Several officials for the city and the highway district will meet at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday in the Idaho River Sports parking lot to give the project a ceremonial start.

The new road will be called Whitewater Park Boulevard and provide a five-lane arterial that roughly aligns with the existing 30th and 31st Streets between Fairview Avenue and State Street.

The city sees the $9.1 million project as a lynchpin for revitalizing the neighborhood between Downtown and the Boise River. In December, Boise established the area as an urban renewal district, enabling the Capital City Development Corporation to buy property and improve it with an eye to spurring economic development.

Project features include bike lanes, sidewalks, center medians north of Pleasanton Avenue, three pedestrian crossing signals and a two-lane roundabout at Stewart Avenue, the entrance to the future Esther Simplot Park. The project also includes upgrades to city sewer services. Construction is expected to take nine months, with completion planned for the end of October. Upon completion of the new road, the nearby 27th Street will be re-striped between Main Street and State Street to include one travel lane in each direction, a center turn lane and bike lanes. In its current form, he road includes two lanes in each direction and does not have bike lanes or a turn lane. One goal for the new road is to relieve traffic on 27th Street, a busy road city officials say is better suited to small neighborhood access.

Planning studies dating back as far as 1968 have identified the need for a north-south connection to provide better access to Downtown Boise. Since early 2000, ACHD and Boise City, with public involvement, have worked to design a roadway compatible with the city’s long-term vision for the 30th Street area. For more information on the 30th Street Extension project, visit http://www.achdidaho.org/Projects/PublicProject.aspx?ProjectID=87. To view Boise City’s 30th Street Area Master Plan, visit, http://www.cityofboise.org/Departments/PDS/Transportation/30thStreet/page14010.aspx