Future of highway through South Hill congested

BONNERS FERRY — After the school bell rings, Highway 95 on the South Hill is bumper to bumper from the stoplight to Super 1 Foods some days.

Congestion of local traffic on the South Hill is a problem and there is no easy fix.

The recent US-95 corridor study by the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) suggests that the main problem on the South Hill is left-turning traffic from side streets onto Highway 95.

School traffic from Tamarack Lane and Fry Street lends to the low rating of those intersections with Highway 95, especially left-turning traffic.

Left-turning traffic off of Highway 95 onto side streets is not a problem yet. Projections for 2031 indicate turning traffic could encounter problems.

With 80 percent of the traffic on the South Hill being local traffic, improving Highway 95 will only fix part of the problem.

Configurations to fix the South Hill address Highway 95 left turns but do not significantly improve left-hand turns from side streets. These configurations include three lanes, five lanes or a bypass.

These configurations do not take into account adding lanes to side streets, squaring intersections or adding stoplights. There may be an eventual need for a signal at Tamarack Lane, said Don Davis of ITD.

A bypass would reroute the 20 percent of through traffic around the South Hill but it doesn’t address the side street problems that will continue to get worse.

“Does the city want a poor level of service on side streets?” said Davis. “Is the bypass worth spending the money?”

A study in 2002 overwhelming concluded citizens wanted to keep the highway in town.

A potential bypass identified in the 2009 Bonners Ferry Transportation Plan located a bypass along the railroad tracks west of town in the valley. However, ways to connect the bypass to the highway were not identified.

Reconfiguring the highway through the South Hill has its own issues, mainly right-of-ways.

Currently, there is only 50 feet of right-of-way, said Davis. A five-lane configuration would be tight in several areas along the South Hill if sidewalks were installed on both sides. Expanding may require increasing the right-of-way and whether that is on one side or both sides would be the question, said City Administrator Stephen Boorman.

Each configuration has issues but a more pressing issue that needs to be addressed soon is the pavement.

“The $7 million from the Curve project returned by Sandpoint could really be used here,” said Dan Dinning, Boundary County Commissioner. “I don’t know if the road has one winter left.”

ITD planned to pave the South Hill two years ago but too many loose ends caused them to pull back the project, said Davis. The last major paving project on the South Hill was in 2003. Paving that adds more than a tenth-inch of asphalt would require ITD to ensure all curbs meet ADA requirements.

“Paving buys us another three, five, eight years,” said Davis. “The base is failing.”

Highway traffic is encroaching on the daily threshold for vehicles even though traffic has not increased significantly since 2007. The daily threshold is 13,000 vehicles per day. At the south end of town, current estimates are 7,000 vehicles daily while at the north end at the top of the hill, estimates are nearly 11,000 vehicles.

The South Hill was not the only area in the county identified as a problem area in the study. Other Highway 95 intersections identified with long-term problems include Schoolhouse Road, Kootenai Street, Riverside Street and Highway 2. The entire stretch from the Highway 2 junction north to mile marker 421 was identified for improvements, including curves and shoulders.

Davis also mentioned the Meadow Creek Road intersection on Highway 2 is being discussed.

ITD plans to hold an open house for public input this summer but a date has not been determined.

“We need to have public input, it is vital,” said Davis.