Hitt Road construction pushed back

After a complication with power poles, the completion of construction on Hitt Road and its intersection with Sunnyside Road has been pushed back by eight months.

The $3.4 million project includes widening Hitt Road south of Sunnyside Road, redesigning the intersection of Hitt Road and Sunnyside Road, and relocating power poles. It was initially planned to be completed Nov. 20, but Rocky Mountain Power had some bad news that pushed it back to July 7, 2015.

“Those major power lines on the east side of Hitt Road could not be de-energized during the months of September and November,” said Chris Fredricksen, the public works director for the city of Idaho Falls.

In a meeting Tuesday night, the Idaho Falls City Council agreed to move forward with the design, but construction is still far away.

“We show a time frame of somewhere in the beginning of May, when those power poles would be relocated,” said Fredricksen. “Construction activities on the roadway can then begin.”

Idaho Falls City Council President Michael Lehto said money is the largest hurdle remaining.

“Potentially, the council will have to wrestle with delaying other projects and that is a big factor in where we’re at,” said Lehto.

Ammon and Idaho Falls have yet to determine how they will divide the $3.4 million price tag.

“Now we have to basically sit down with Ammon, explain the work that we’ll be doing and explain what the construction schedule will look like,” said Lehto. “Then, basically talk about who’s going to pay for what.”

The cities hoped to have the construction finished in time for the grand opening of Cabela’s in spring ’15.