Auxiliary lanes, ramp metering, widening projects, and hundreds of millions of dollars in upgrades could eventually come to I-84 as the Idaho Transportation Department attempts to keep things moving.
It’s no secret that getting on I-84 in the valley at 5 p.m. will usually find commuters sitting in traffic. With more people moving to the valley each year, traffic congestion is projected to get worse. According to District Engineer Jason Brinkman, by 2055, if nothing is done, travel times are expected to nearly double. And that’s not the only impact.
“Not only do the travel times during the peak hour double, but the peak hour becomes the peak hours,” Brinkman said in his report to the ITD board on Wednesday. He said the congestion would continue to bleed further out onto local roadways.
That’s why, Brinkman said, ITD decided to look at how it might make the interstate run smoother through the I-84 mobility study.
Not just about increasing capacity
The I-84 mobility study was done with the goal of finding ways to keep traffic moving at a consistent rate, rather than simply increasing the roadway’s capacity. Brinkman says ITD wants to ultimately avoid having certain areas where cars can drive at the speed limit and other areas where traffic flow quickly slows to stop-and-go at chokepoints…