Idaho Falls road work

[Eagleman55]

Have you ever lived on the east side? I have. They have been trying to build it up for years. Never going to happen. So glad that I moved to Ammon

[pw72]

The Grand Teton Mall was built way before the development surrounded it. 1980, I believe. There was wasn't much around it at that time, so don't blame the mall.

I would point to one suicide lane that needs attention immediately. This is Hitt Road and E. 25th. When constructed, this was not a porblem. Now it is. NB traffic turning left on to E.25th play russian roulette with SB Hitt road turning into the major retail center that includes Five Guys, a hotel, the liquor store, the theaters, and many other resturaunts. This is a dangerous merge that needs to be revised.

[IFGuy]

There really isn't a win win situation for Hitt Road between 17th and Sunnyside. If you put up another stop light traffic slows down. Leave it be and more accidents will occur and congestion gets much worse. The cities of Idaho Falls and Ammon need to do a better job of creating neighborhood shopping centers and/ or spreading out retail throughout the area.

The costliest fix would of course be a limited access road and even then you can't be certain it would be utilized.

I can't wait to see how the reconfigured 17th/Hitt intersection will look. It should provide some relief but then again, as Hitt Road is developed north of Walmart and 17th is developed out toward Ammon, we will be left with the same problem, only with more traffic to deal with.

I would almost be willing to bet that Ammon will approve any and all new developments within this area as they are hungry for tax dollars. On the flipside, Idaho Falls has numerous areas that can be developed without adding too much headache. Even Bonneville County has areas that are begging for development and will be much less congested all while being successful.

I think the biggest issue right now is where will Costco go? If in Ammon, expect traffic to increase considerably, to the point that it will be unbearable, and then more stores and offices will follow, increasing traffic even more. If Costco goes to Snake River Landing, traffic will increase, however the location will be easier to get to for almost everyone with I-15 close by, Sunnyside Road, US-91 nearby, and a short drive to both US 20 and US 26.

[pw72]

Costco would prefer to be in a high traffic area for obvious reasons. So not sure about Snake River Landing, perhaps someday.

The last I heard there is no deal for Costco in IF or Ammon, but significant interest.