Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne’s legacy is secure in North Idaho.

The two-term governor will go down in history as the man who fixed U.S. Highway 95.

Although one eventful legislative term remains for him, the governor made his mark last year when he won a game of brinkmanship with the House Transportation Committee over his $1.6 billion highway construction program. When the committee balked at the ambitious proposal, Kempthorne went to work with his veto stamp. After eight vetoes, the committee relented, and a long-awaited fix of the deadly highway, dubbed the “goat trail,” received the legislative support needed to forward.

It’s hard to say how many lives will be saved as a result of upgrades planned in North Idaho between Worley and Coeur d’Alene, Garwood to Sandpoint, and north of Bonners Ferry. The actual number of fatalities may remain the same or increase because population and traffic have jumped along the 538-mile highway. However, the accidents associated with narrow roads without shoulders, impatient drivers stuck in two-way traffic, and highway engineering should all but disappear by the time the construction program ends in about 10 years.

For years, Idaho governors gave lip service to upgrading the only state road linking the Panhandle to the southern portion of the state. But they were staggered by the price tag to fix the strategic route. Also, they knew they’d face a tough fight in a turf-conscious Legislature, dominated by southern Idaho farmers who failed to see how pouring money into Highway 95 benefited their constituents.

Kempthorne, who wasn’t known for taking tough stands during his first term as governor, encountered naysayers and traditionalists who balked at constructing Highway 95 and other Idaho roadways with Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicles (GARVEE) bonds, a funding system that allows the state to borrow against future federal highway allocations to fund major projects all at once up-front. Twenty states have already done so. But the stubborn House Transportation Committee tried to sidetrack the centerpiece of Kempthorne’s agenda by voting 9-5 in the last days of the session to delay action on the bill.

The vetoes brought the committee to its senses.

Already, the emphasis on Highway 95 construction during Kempthorne’s tenure has been felt in the north. Soon, a local lament about the challenging drive on Highway 95 will no longer be true: “There’s no good roads to Worley.” The first of three phases on the 20-mile stretch to Worley has wiped out much of the treacherous conditions that characterized the section – a narrow roadway, tight curves on hills, with few chances to pass. Work has begun on the second phase. The final phase, from Setters to Worley, will be the first of 13 projects underwritten with GARVEE bonds.

Kempthorne will have left office by the time northern Highway 95 is completed. But not forgotten in North Idaho for his life-saving stand.