Residents, Businesses Want Intersection Open

Businesses and residents don’t want the intersection of U.S. Highway 95 and Haycraft Avenue blocked off.

The majority want the Idaho Department of Transportation to install pork chop shaped medians to allow them to continue turning left from the highway onto the city street. More than a dozen people, some representing several businesses, turned out at a public hearing held by the city and the Transportation Department on Thursday.

The department conducted a traffic study and proposed five remedies for the intersection, which sees an average of 32,000 cars a day. The proposals ranged from installing a traffic light to building a median. A median would stop people from crossing Highway 95 at Haycraft or from making left turns.

A traffic light would be expensive and would stall traffic at the intersection of Appleway and Highway 95 - North Idaho’s busiest intersection.

The “pork-chop” alternative people appear to prefer would stop cars from crossing Highway 95 from Haycraft. It also would prevent cars from turning left from Haycraft onto Highway 95, said Barbara Babic, field services coordinator for the Transportation Department.

The City Council will study the alternatives and make a recommendation as will the Transportation Department. The recommendations will be sent to the Transportation Board in Boise for a final decision.

, DataTimes