Local Highway Technical Assistance Council Tours North Idaho Road and Bridge Projects

The Local Highway Technical Assistance Council (LHTAC) hosted its annual bus tour earlier this week in Kellogg, Idaho. The yearly event rotates visiting a different district in the state each year. Local officials, design engineers, and contractors get to share with the council about the various projects toured. LHTAC council members Benewah County Commissioner Phil Lampert and Madison County Commissioner Todd Smith attended, representing the counties.

The District 1 tour kicked off in Wallace, Idaho, with a complex bridge project connecting the east and west sides of the town. To protect the downtown businesses, the contractor agreed to keep part of the bridge open for pedestrians even though they are replacing the entire bridge. This has helped keep the businesses bustling throughout construction.

Next, we had the opportunity to see multiple Local Idaho Local Bridge Program (LILB) bridges that are in various phases of construction in Shoshone County. The tour traversed into Kootenai County with a stop in the Lakes Highway District near the Couer d’Alene Airport, where we learned about a future road project that will begin construction in the spring of 2025. This project will create an alternative North/South route to US-95 around the airport in Hayden, which should help alleviate some of the traffic congestion in the area. 

LHTAC also held a council meeting while everyone was gathered. Mac Pooler, the former Mayor of Kellogg and LHTAC council member from 2008 to April of this year, was in attendance and was honored at the meeting. Council members expressed appreciation for his years of service through the great recession when years were lean through 2024, helping to shape LHTAC and the many programs offered. The council learned during the meeting that a new LILB Bridge currently being constructed in Kellogg will be named the Mac Pooler Bridge to honor Mayor Mac’s 30 years of contributions to the city. Mayor Pooler shared that when he received the engraved plaque that will be placed on the bridge, he requested that LHTAC be added to the plaque to remind people of the role that LHTAC played in seeing the bridge come to fruition. 

LHTAC Deputy Administrator Ken Kanownik updated the council about how the LILB program is coming. Kanownik said, “The Leading Idaho Local Bridge Program has 26 completed projects, 42 in the construction phase, 148 in design, and five still undergoing testing and analysis.” Kanownik shared that some of the most complicated projects are yet to come with multiple multi-span bridge projects in the pipeline, including a Boise County Bridge spanning the Payette River on Boise Street, as well as multi-span projects in Canyon and Shoshone County, to name just a few.