Expansion raises road questions

THREE MILE — The unknowns of the expansion at Three Mile Junction and the addition of the Sturgeon Station Travel Center have business owners on edge.

In the Three Mile area the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho is building their Sturgeon Station Travel Center project, which will include a truck stop, a Sonic restaurant and cultural exhibits. The Idaho Transportation Department is planning the road connection to U.S. 95.

Business owners from Great Northern Road and Sunrise Road packed the commissioners meeting Nov. 21, concerned about rumors that these roads will lose access from the highway in order to accommodate the travel center. There was also rumor that a light would be added at Great Northern and David Thompson Drive.

Commissioner Tim Bertling told the Herald the project is an Idaho Transportation Department project in partnership with the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho and not with the Boundary County Commissioners, since the project is on U.S. 95.

At the time of the Nov. 21 meeting, the commissioners did not have information on the project that they could share with the public.

“People are making a big deal over something that hasn’t been decided,” Bertling said.

Megan Jahns, public information officer at ITD, said the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho is seeking direct access to U.S. 95 south of Three Mile Junction for a new travel center, which requires an access permit from ITD.

“Before allowing access, ITD works with the developer to consider how a new development will impact traffic and if the requested access meets spacing requirements stipulated in Idaho Code,” Jahns said. “A permit has not been issued yet, but the department, the county and the tribe have been discussing the topic for months.”

She added that given the proximity of several other accesses on the highway, there is talk of reconfiguring and consolidating access as part of the new development.

“Pre-existing businesses will not lose access, but it could be modified,” she said.

Traffic demands may necessitate the installation of a signal or a light in the vicinity and that access changes and further development in the area could in turn prompt a re-evaluation of the speed limit, Jahns said.

“As part of the permitting process that affects local roads, ITD usually solicits comments from other agencies; if other pre-existing accesses may be modified, ITD will consult with the owners of those accesses,” she said. “Public comment is not a formal part of the process, as most access decisions are based on state law.”

At some point the county may ask for comments on the development proposal, she said, but that is outside the jurisdiction of ITD.

The county will have to approve the approach from the highway to the travel center. This approval will go through the Road and Bridge Department and then go in front of the commissioners, Bertling said. This is in order to make sure the approach provides a safe entrance to the highway.

At the Nov. 29 Bonners Ferry Rotary meeting, Dennis Weed, the project manager for the travel center, said the ITD is still deciding on the road that will come off the highway. The road will become a county road, he said, and it will comply with county standards.

There was talk of putting a light at Great Northern Road, he said, but that location is not ideal for winter weather and trucks trying to climb the hill.

Many business owners at the Nov. 21 commissioners meeting opposed this project due to concerns with traffic flow and trucking.

Weed said there is discussion of ITD putting in a light at Tobe Way, which is just north of Great Northern Road.

He added that a light is ideal for a truck stop, because it takes 18 seconds for some semis to fully enter the roadway. A light would allow trucks time to enter the road, instead of having trucks sit and wait to pull onto the highway with traffic zooming by.

There will be time for public comment and the public will be notified when a hearing is scheduled, Weed said.

Three Mile is growing, he said, with Dollar General and Tractor Supply looking to build and open locations in the area. This will increase traffic and more road projects and planning for safety will be coming as well.

Tom Turpin, soon to be CEO of the Kootenai Tribe Development Corporation also spoke at Rotary and said between the travel center and the coming Sonic restaurant there will be 40 to 50 job openings.

Kootenai Tribe of Idaho officials said previously that its economic actions not only bring in money from outside to the area, but also the tax and other revenues stay in the community through its collection of sales taxes and through the Motor Fuels Tax Agreement with the state.

At the travel center, 85% of the tax on diesel and 15% of the tax on regular gas will go to the Boundary County Road and Bridge Department to continue road maintenance and improvements.