The Idaho Transportation Board has approved a seven-year plan that includes major construction projects in north central Idaho.
The plan calls for the replacement of Arrow Bridge on U.S. Highway 12 east of Spalding. The project, scheduled for 2025, would replace it with a wider structure and could also include reconfiguring the U.S. 12 and Idaho Highway 3 intersection at an estimated cost of $138 million.
The Spalding Bridge on U.S. Highway 95 is scheduled to be replaced starting in 2025 to accommodate a four-lane divided highway with wide shoulders for future bicycle and pedestrian paths. It may also include realigning the U.S. 95 and U.S. 12 interchange. Construction is estimated to cost $193 million.
Construction on Clearwater Memorial Bridge in Lewiston is expected to begin in 2023 and will include a new bridge deck with wider lanes, shoulders and sidewalks. The bridge will also be strengthened to eliminate current load restrictions during the more than $27 million project.
There are also bridge replacements planned for Latah County. One $2 million project will replace the Sand Road bridge over the South Fork of the Palouse River west of Moscow in 2024. The other will replace the bridge near Little Bear Creek in Troy in 2029 for an estimated 6.8 million.
Two major highway projects for Latah County are also listed in the seven-year plan. One is to construct an alternate U.S. 95 route that consists of a four-lane highway bypassing Moscow and adding an interchange at the U.S. 95 and Idaho Highway 8 intersection.
The other is to widen Highway 8 between Moscow and Troy to four lanes in one segment, and three lanes in another segment.
During the course of the next seven years, the state is planning to construct passing lanes on U.S. 95 near Potlatch and extend the passing lane near Crooks Hill.
The plan will be submitted to the Federal Highway Administration for approval. (Lewiston Tribune)
