© Darin Oswald/Idaho Statesman/TNS A nearly forgotten transportation proposition is receiving new attention. The Tri-Cities Junction will be a north-south traffic corridor crossing the Boise River in the area. This view looks south near the intersection of State Routes 44 and 55.Between the growing cities of Boise and Eagle, only two roads cross the Boise River to provide north-south access. The Eagle Road and Glenwood Street bridges carry an average of more than 85,000 vehicles a week.
Another river crossing is needed between Boise and Eagle, Eagle Mayor Jason Pierce said.
The City of Eagle has revived support for a long-dead proposal to add another river crossing from State Street to Chinden Boulevard between Cloverdale Road and Five Mile Road. The three cities referred to as Crossroads are Eagle, Boise, and Garden City.
"This will give us another north-south connection," Pierce said at the Nov. 9 city council meeting. “We really think he should come back to the table to take the pressure off Boise residents to switch from McCall to Eagle (Road) or Meridian.
In 2003, the Ada County Highway District began investigating three urban intersections as alternatives to the intersections of State Highway 55 (Eagle Road) and State Highway 44 (Glenwood Street), said Amy Luft, spokeswoman for the Southwest Idaho Community Planning Association . .
ACHD decided not to build a bridge in the 2000s
The CDHA then decided not to build the bridge and adjacent sections of the highway because it would cost more than it was worth, Luft said in an email.
Since 2010, the land around the Boise River has been set aside for future crossings, but the project remains without funds.
In June, Pierce and Nicole Byrd Spencer, Eagle's long-range planner, met with the Idaho Department of Transportation to ask for their support in preventing Compass from removing the three-city transition from Compass's long-range plan. .
Eagle officials say the increase has contributed to congestion at the Eagle River and Glenwood intersections. Pierce noted that the state bought the old Hewlett Packard campus on Chinden Boulevard several years ago, has moved some workers there and plans to move soon. He predicts it will bring more traffic to Glenwood Street and Eagle Road.
Compass updates its long-range plan every five years. As the federally designated regional transportation planning agency for Treasure Valley, Compass programs are central to federal highway funding for local highway construction projects.
The Idaho Department of Transportation said yes.
Compass is asking a transport agency, such as ACHD or ITD, to sponsor the project to put it into the planning stage. In June, the City of Eagle asked ITD to be the agency's sponsor, and ITD's board of directors agreed, ITD spokeswoman Jillian Garrigues said in an email.
“We have an opportunity to move forward and with a lot of transportation dollars, we think it can be done sooner rather than later,” Pierce said.
A 2010 estimate put the project cost at about $148 million, according to city filings with the TTZ. Costs will likely be higher now.
In 2000, Boise had a population of 185,000, Eagle had a population of 11,000, and Garden City had a population of 10,000, according to Compass. Today, Compass estimates the population of Boise at 243,500, Eaglin at 34,000, and Garden City at 13,000.
From the first time we talked about the switch, the CDHA decided it wasn't going to be good enough to make it worthwhile. But now, as each city has grown by at least 30 percent, the need for a third intersection has also increased, advocates say.
During the afternoon rush hour between 3 and 6 p.m., Glenwood Street and Eagle Road carry between 3,300 and 3,500 vehicles an hour, Luft said.
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