Construction begins to widen one of the most heavily traveled roads west of Boise
Construction has begun to widen one of the most congested routes between Meridian and Caldwell.
In November, the Idaho Transportation Department began work to widen U.S. 20/26 (Chinden Boulevard) from Idaho 16 to Linder Road, from two lanes to five.
The work is just the first phase of a larger Boise-area project that will widen Chinden from Eagle Road to Interstate 84 to a four-lane divided highway by 2032, and to six lanes by 2040.
ITD previously estimated that the project to upgrade the 15-mile stretch, currently a two- and three-lane rural highway, would cost $350 million.
ITD prioritized the project because of an increased number of crashes between 2012 and 2016. In those four years, there were 475 crashes between Star and Eagle roads, of which 345 were read-end crashes.
This first phase will add lanes on either side between Linder Road and Idaho 16. The work will expand the road by eating into land to the south of Chinden Boulevard, affecting projects such as Linder Village, where a new WinCo is going in.
In addition to the new lanes, ITD also purchased new right-of-way to help build a 10-foot pathway for pedestrians and bikers.
In a later phase, ITD will improve the intersections along the stretch. “Such improvements are not warranted with today’s traffic demand,” wrote spokesman Jake Melder in an email to the Statesman.
This phase is funded in part by a Sales Tax Anticipation Revenue, or STAR, agreement with Costco, which is building a new store on the southwest corner of Chinden Boulevard and Ten Mile Road in Meridian. Through the agreement, Costco paid in advance for the road improvements, and the state will reimburse Costco via the sales taxes it generates.
The construction for this phase is set to cost $13 million. ITD spent an additional $7 million purchasing the right-of-way for the project.
ITD next plans to widen Chinden Boulevard from Locust Grove Road to Eagle Road. ITD’s complete timeline on the project:
- Late 2019: Idaho 16 to Linder Road
- 2020: Locust Grove to Eagle Road
- 2020: Linder Road to Meridian Road
- 2021: Meridian Road to Locust Grove
- 2021: I-84 to Middleton Road
- 2024: Star Road to Idaho 16
