Traffic plan slated
Officials set sights on U.S. Highway 95 access blueprint
By JESSICA KELLER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Tuesday, April 1, 2008 10:22 AM PDT
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| Traffic travels south on Whitley Drive/U.S. Highway 95 just past Gayway Junction in Fruitland Monday afternoon. The city of Fruitland, along with three other local government agencies and the Idaho Transportation Department have agreed to form a cooperative partnership to establish a traffic access management plan for U.S. Highway 95 in Payette County from just south of Palisades through 19th Avenue North in Payette. |
FRUITLAND — Within the next couple of months, Fruitland and four other government agencies will embark on developing a traffic access management plan along a section of U.S. Highway 95 through Fruitland and Payette.
The Idaho Transportation Department plan, called the U.S. 95 Payette County access management project, is actually part of a larger, highway corridor management blueprint for the main north/south state road.
ITD senior planner Phil Choate said ITD officials determined the section of U.S. Highway 95 between just south of Palisades through 19th Avenue North through Payette to be of high priority for a comprehensive access management plan.
“We’re dealing with an area that we think has the potential to grow rapidly,” Choate said.
To stay ahead of the development and traffic curve along local sections of U.S. Highway 95, ITD, the City of Fruitland, the City of Payette, Payette County and Highway District No. 1 officials, agreed to join in a cooperative effort to develop an access management plan specifically tailored for that portion of the roadway, Choate said.
“Our primary mission here is to preserve long-term functionality of the highway,” he said.
Currently, ITD is in negotiations with HDR engineering consulting firm to complete the components necessary to develop an access management plan. Choate said HDR is drawing up a cost analysis, which will then be approved so the project can begin. As part of the access management plan, HDR engineers will identify existing access points, safety risks, document traffic volumes and gather information from the various government agencies on land-use plans and projected growth that is expected to occur along the highway, Choate said.
“This process will probably take us six months to mature,” he said, adding, a task force, consisting of representatives of all agencies involved, will be hosting public meetings between the summer and fall to receive public input on current problems and potential access issues.
Once HDR completes its study and makes future access management recommendations, the task force members will then develop access management policies for the strip in question.
“It becomes binding once we have an agreement that the city and county governments will implement those policies that come out of the plan,” Choate said.
Karen Doherty, HDR/Doherty & Associates, said the stretch of U.S. Highway 95 between Palisades, extending through Fruitland to north Payette is “ripe” for an access management plan that will ensure future smooth traffic flow and access points.
She said the key to the access management plan will be to develop comprehensive policies that will balance the needs for the jurisdictions and their residents who use the highway corridor every day with those of travelers.
“So now’s the time, because we’re seeing a lot of development, to make some recommendations as to how we see this area developing in the future so we can be proactive instead of reactive,” Doherty said.
Doherty said her company’s familiarity with the Fruitland — Doherty & Associates is the City of Fruitland’s transportation engineers — area will be beneficial in completing the access management plan, and the city of Fruitland’s transportation master plan update will coincide with the completion of the highway access management plan.
She said her firm is not looking at any specific areas of the Fruitland to Payette corridor for access management improvements, and instead will focus on all areas or intersections that have a high safety risk or have posed potential problems in the past.
She said the area between Palisades and Fruitland, speed changes throughout the corridor, and the U.S. Highway 95 and U.S. Highway 30 intersection in Fruitland will certainly be examined, along with the immediate intersections before and after the Payette River bridge — Alden Road and Killebrew Drive.
