Coalition Puts Brakes On Interstate 84 Exit

Local officials are calling the landscaping of an Interstate 84 exit a $286,000 fiasco.

It is not green, and could cost more green to succeed.

The Idaho Transportation Department paid for the work. When it was finished, the landscape was supposed to be covered in clover and lined with sumac and wildflowers.

Instead, it is a patchwork of clover, weeds and dry spots.

“We don’t think it’s built right,” said Dennis Peterson, Burley parks and recreation director.

Burley and Heyburn, plus Cassia and Minidoka counties, were to share in the maintenance of the exit. But the coalition is not ready to accept the work from the state.

“If it was green and mowed, it would look pretty nice,” Peterson said. “Someone’s got to go in and pull all the weeds.”

A Pocatello contractor installed an irrigation system there, but Peterson believes water is not reaching every area.

The Transportation Department is looking for some solutions, engineer Devin Rigby said.