UI Decries Highway To Death With Air Service Curtailed, Students Must Travel Dangerous Stretch Of 95

Since Horizon Air announced it will no longer fly between Moscow and Boise, some parents in the state’s southern half are reconsidering sending their children to the University of Idaho.

UI President Robert Hoover recalled an e-mail from a nervous mom:

“She said she was pulling her children out because she doesn’t want them on the killer highway,” Hoover said.

Without airline service between Boise and Moscow, U.S. Highway 95 becomes the primary transit route for students traveling over the holidays. In the last year, at least four UI students were killed on the dangerous stretch. This year, one student died near Lucille when his car plunged into the Salmon River.

Trying to combat UI’s isolated image, Hoover is negotiating with several airlines to restore service to Moscow. He’s also joining the chorus of voices pressing for improvements to the 538-mile north-south route. Sen. Jack Riggs, R-Coeur d’Alene, said he fears for his children’s safety as they drive between campus and Coeur d’Alene. Riggs joined Rep. Hilde Kellogg, R-Post Falls, in announcing 13 public meetings starting Monday in Bonners Ferry, Sandpoint and Coeur d’Alene to discuss U.S. 95 improvements.

“As a physician, I can no longer sit idly by and watch children die needlessly on that road,” Riggs said.

An effort to improve Highway 95 failed to get through the Legislature last year.

Evan Frasure, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, Idaho Transportation Department representatives and other elected officials will tour the highway next week.

Riggs is proposing a construction plan to straighten and widen the highway to 34 feet. The plan also calls for passing lanes a minimum of every four miles and four-lane segments between Sandpoint and Plummer, Moscow and Lewiston, and Emmett and Boise. Lawmakers want to hear ideas on how to pay for the improvements. Local option gas taxes are one possibility being reviewed, Riggs said.

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MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Road trip Legislators and other officials plan a tour of U.S. Highway 95 next week, in addition to field hearings. Monday: The tour caravan will leave from the Eastport port of entry at 9 a.m. Public comment will be taken at: Bonners Ferry VFW Hall at 10 a.m. Sandpoint City Council chambers at 1 p.m. The Coeur d’Alene Inn at 7 p.m. Tuesday: The group will take public comment in: Moscow city hall chambers, noon Lewiston community center at 7 p.m.