Expansion of HWY 55? And State Street 44? (Boise, Eagle: buying a home, buying, construction)

[jfbd6805]

Hello again!

I was wondering what the word on the street is about the expansion of these two major arteries around Eagle and Boise?

There is a small development about 500 yards from HWY 55 that we are looking at and right now it is pretty quiet but if HWY 55 is expanded it would not be a good buy (at least not for us).

Also, will HWY 44 be widened at any point in the future to keep up with increasing traffic demands from surrounding towns of Eagle and Star?

Thanks!

[AlleyTD]

If you are talking about hwy 55 north of State street (Home Depot intersection) I have not heard of it being it expanded and I can't see any reason for it. That stretch of road is already very wild and flow very freely. I'm on it every day and I have never seen traffic, a back-up or any delays that would warrant making it bigger.

They have been working on Glenwood and will start of State street - west of Glenwood next week repaving the roads ... Here is a PDF flyer from the ID department of transportation regarding this topic.

http://itd.idaho.gov/Projects/D3/I44...ion_mailer.pdf

[MrGrumpy]

Unfortunately there are still plenty of sections of state street that they won't be able to expand.

[jfbd6805]

Yes I was exactly referring to the area just north of Home Depot. Thanks for the info from you both.

The reason I ask is b/c i found this online and I wasn't sure if it was just speculative or if these plans are serious:

http://www.savedrycreek.com/traffic_counts.htm

Its the powerpoint presentation on the save dry creek website.

Thanks!

[boi2socal]

Well, SunCor is selling of most of their projects. Avimor is a SunCor project and hasn't done so well. They wanted to build thousands of homes and they've sold 3 or 4. Most of these projects have build out dates 20 plus years from now. So eventually improvements will be needed but nothing immediate. I really cannot even imagine what traffic will be like into Boise if and when these projects are completed.

[boisefan88]

Originally Posted by boi2socal

Well, SunCor is selling of most of their projects. Avimor is a SunCor project and hasn't done so well. They wanted to build thousands of homes and they've sold 3 or 4. Most of these projects have build out dates 20 plus years from now. So eventually improvements will be needed but nothing immediate. I really cannot even imagine what traffic will be like into Boise if and when these projects are completed.

What about the lingering infrastructure problems for these ridiculous developments?

The failed promises for traffic/highway improvements? Their own wastewater treatment that will never materialize? Who provides fire and police protection? All county services now for what, two or three families? It's absolutely silly.

I cannot even fathom how our leaders in government and in business continue to get fooled by the empty promises these developments tout, only to be continually left holding the bill to which we are all expected to now pay.

[TohobitPeak]

Originally Posted by jfbd6805

Hello again!

I was wondering what the word on the street is about the expansion of these two major arteries around Eagle and Boise?

There is a small development about 500 yards from HWY 55 that we are looking at and right now it is pretty quiet but if HWY 55 is expanded it would not be a good buy (at least not for us).

Also, will HWY 44 be widened at any point in the future to keep up with increasing traffic demands from surrounding towns of Eagle and Star?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by MrGrumpy

Unfortunately there are still plenty of sections of state street that they won't be able to expand.

Instead of expanding State or adding extra lanes we need a light rail route from Eagle all of the way into downtown Boise to connect with the proposed downtown tolley system which will extend to 16th Streets. The trolley route is hopefully going to be up and running by 2012 if the stars align.
I realize a light rail system is a number of years away from actually happening, but it would be sweet.

[HDL]

CONES !!! Those BIG ORANGE ONES ! And those signs that flash and talk about ROAD WORK ! And YES, they are right where you are asking about.

Now I have seen for weeks, signs stating that road work was going to be starting in May, but I had no idea what exactly they were going to be doing on Hwy 55/State St aka Hwy 44/Horseshoe Bend Rd. I stopped getting the local paper and no one had given me the lowdown, but now I see from this web link http://www.achd.ada.id.us/PDF/RITA/list.pdf (broken link) that they are doing "Overlay" !!! I assume that mean a new coat of tar, but the web link doesn't say how long the project is supposed to last .

Now something that no one has mentioned yet is this. Before the economy went into a tail spin , ITD (Idaho Dept of Transportation) was looking into a NEW road/bridge crossing over the Boise River and one of the favored spots was right at Hwy 55 and State Street (Hwy 44) 0J:www.achd.ada.id.us/pdf/Three_Cities_Rive_Crossing/PublicCommentSummary_040804.pdf+Three+Cities+River +Crossing+boise+id&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us (http://www.achd.ada.id.us/pdf/Three_Cities_Rive_Crossing/PublicCommentSummary_040804.pdf+Three+Cities+River +Crossing+boise+id&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us - broken link)Ada County Highway District (http://www.achd.ada.id.us/Projects/PublicProject.aspx?ProjectID=29 - broken link) and http://www.compassidaho.org/document...ighway3CRX.pdf and Three Cities River Crossing Project February Public Scoping Meetings

I have no idea what the status is of this project, but I was very excited about an additional route across the river so close to where I live and I hope that this project gets resurrected very SOON and put into the budget as a 'shovel ready project' in the next year or two . I don't live close enough for the project to be a nuisance for me, but it would definitely change my driving patterns and might possibly mean that Hwy 55 could be expanded/affected if the project goes through .

p.s.
I personally avoided buying a home that is close to Hwy 55 for this reason - you never know how noisy it might get or whether or not they might decide to put up businesses along the sides of it, etc.

Originally Posted by jfbd6805

Hello again!

I was wondering what the word on the street is about the expansion of these two major arteries around Eagle and Boise?

There is a small development about 500 yards from HWY 55 that we are looking at and right now it is pretty quiet but if HWY 55 is expanded it would not be a good buy (at least not for us).

Also, will HWY 44 be widened at any point in the future to keep up with increasing traffic demands from surrounding towns of Eagle and Star?

Thanks!

WOW ! I made the same suggestion when I moved here 4 yrs ago and almost got booted out of the state for anarchy !!! I was told to take my C********** ways and don't let the door hit me . ID didn't need no darn light rail !!!

Anyways TohobitPeak, I'm with you on this . I'd love to see light rail come to Boise. Maybe Motive Power could build the rails ???! We could certainly use the jobs, save on gas, keep the air cleaner and get folks off the road. And NOW is the time for these types of projects (jmho )!!! In the meanwhile, Eagle DID put up a Park and Ride lot just off of State St in Eagle to downtown Boise and hopefully (fingers crossed) it is still available as another avenue to get people to downtown during the work week !

Originally Posted by TohobitPeak

Instead of expanding State or adding extra lanes we need a light rail route from Eagle all of the way into downtown Boise to connect with the proposed downtown tolley system which will extend to 16th Streets. The trolley route is hopefully going to be up and running by 2012 if the stars align.
I realize a light rail system is a number of years away from actually happening, but it would be sweet.

[jfbd6805]

Thanks all. I guess we shouldn't buy there then. Its a pity - lovely view, gorgeous home, etc. but the house is literally 500 yards from HWY 55 so if all this development happens it won't be nearly as quiet.

[boiseguy]

the beauty of boise's layout is that state street, chinden, and fairview, along with vista, broadway, warmsprings and parkcenter all come into downtown .. those all could very easily be light rail corridors out from the city center...
to sit and say boise is not big enough for it is hogwash... boise isn't big enough to go around slapping up rail everywhere I agree, BUT I would bet my first born, if there was a direct route from eagle to downtown boise via statestreet, you'd have a hard time finding a seat on it at rush hours...
needs to start somewhere and sometime... should be that corridor, as soon as possible..