BOISE, ID — A project on U.S. Highway 95 in North Idaho was recently named the western regional winner of the America’s Transportation Awards. Sponsored by the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials, AAA, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the America's Transportation Awards competition was created to showcase tremendous projects.

Work from 2019 through 2021 addressed skyrocketing growth in Coeur d’Alene and Hayden by adjusting signal spacing, as well as access and capacity at intersections. Several intersections on US-95 lacked basic turn lanes to separate turning traffic from through traffic. To maximize mobility at these intersections — some of which were seeing 50,000 vehicles a day, nearly rivaling traffic counts on the interstate — ITD added eight turn lanes to six intersections.

“Adjusting the signals so that they were spaced one-half mile apart allows us to better manage traffic with what we already had and without building costly features like bypasses or interchanges,” Project Manager Carrie Ann Hewitt said. “Once we update the signal technology this fall, we expect to see even more seconds saving traveling through the corridor. Seconds may not sound like much, but throughout the corridor they add up.” 

Other improvements included rebuilding the shared-use path to the east of the highway and placing noise walls near Carriage Court and Hayden Pines.

This project was also awarded the Excellence in Construction Partnering Award from the Idaho Transportation Department and Associated General Contractors of Idaho in December 2021.