U.S. 26 seal coating between Swan Valley and Idaho Falls starts today
Published at | Updated atThe following is a news release from the Idaho Department of Transportation.
RIGBY – Seal coating on U.S. 26 between Swan Valley and Idaho Falls, funded by new revenue, will begin Saturday. The project will enhance and preserve the highway surface. The work is scheduled for completion in early September.
U.S. 26 is an important tourist and trade route for Idaho and the Intermountain West, moving visitors and products between Oregon and Wyoming. Primary beneficiaries of this maintenance are tourists, farmers, ranchers, long-haul truckers and commuters.
Travel between Swan Valley and Ririe will be reduced to one lane, with flaggers directing traffic through the work zone. Motorists can expect delays of up to 30 minutes. Drivers should anticipate merging traffic and watch for construction workers and equipment.
In August, travel between Ririe and Idaho Falls will be reduced to one lane in each direction, with the speed limit reduced to 35 mph. Motorists should keep a safe distance from other vehicles to reduce potential windshield damage.
Crews will seal coat U.S. 26 and its accesses between the junction of Idaho 31 in Swan Valley and Holmes Avenue in Idaho Falls. Workers already have sealed shoulders of the highway. Construction in August will include striping the new surface and installing thermoplastic pavement markings.
Road markings at the intersection of U.S. 26 and 25th East (Hitt Road) will be adjusted to make left turn/through lanes into left-turn-only lanes. Work hours will be approximately 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, although crews will work this weekend.
Commercial drivers transporting permitted loads wider than 16 feet need to contact Resident Engineer Matt Davison (208-745-5686) or Staff Engineer David Alvarez (208-745-5660) 24 hours in advance for special authorization to pass through the construction zones.
The transportation department awarded HK Contractors Inc., of Idaho Falls, the $1.7 million contract.
Following the Idaho Legislature’s additional funding approval — the state’s first transportation-revenue increase in nearly two decades — the Idaho Transportation Board advanced a group of maintenance projects in 2015. This opened the way to move forward dozens of other critically needed road and bridge projects statewide. The seal coating on U.S. 26 is one of the projects advanced through the initiative.
Click here for the status of the statewide projects funded by new revenue.
East-west U.S. 26, which connects the West Coast with Ogallala, Nebraska, runs through southern Idaho, entering eastern Idaho at the Blaine-Butte County line and crossing the Snake River Plain before paralleling the Snake River and Palisades Reservoir to Wyoming.