Transportation Improvement Program: Broadway Bridge

As you may be aware, the DRAFT Regional Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for Ada and Canyon Counties for fiscal years 2012 - 2016 is open for public comment through Monday, July 25, 2011.

The TIP is a budget showing where funding for regional transportation projects will be spent over the next five years in the Treasure Valley.

The TIP can be an overwhelming and confusing document. After all, it is a government budget that spans five years and covers hundreds of projects over two counties. It can be difficult to wade through.

That said, what is contained in the TIP will affect you –the projects are designed to make our roads and bridges safer, improve traffic flow, add and improve facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists, and help preserve your transportation system.

In this blog over the next few weeks I’m going to highlight a few of the projects to help give you a sense of the variety and significance of what you will find in the TIP.

The Broadway Bridge in Boise is one of many bridge projects in the TIP. Built in 1956, the bridge, near downtown Boise and Boise State University, is now considered to be “structurally deficient” by the National Bridge Inventory Database (http://nationalbridges.com/), which concludes the bridge is “basically intolerable requiring high priority of replacement.”

The much-needed bridge replacement will soon be reality, and this can be seen in the TIP. The project has been shown in the TIP since fiscal year 2009. Initially funding was only available to repair the bridge, but additional funding has now been allocated to completely rebuild it. Construction is scheduled in fiscal year 2015. The new bridge will include an additional traffic lane, bike lanes, and upgraded sidewalks to make crossing the bridge safer for bicyclists and pedestrians.

This is one of just many projects budgeted in the TIP that may affect you and the way you get around in the valley. Take a few minutes to look at the projects in the TIP and provide your comments, and check back here as we delve into some of the other projects over the next few weeks.