Pancheri construction project out for bids

The city of Idaho Falls is now advertising bids for a street construction project on Pancheri Drive between Skyline Drive and Bellin Road.

The city pulled the project when the U.S. Department of Transportation announced the Federal Highway Trust Fund was out of money. The U.S. House passed a bill Tuesday that transferred $10.8 billion into the fund from another fund created to repair leaking underground fuel storage tanks. A similar bill is up for consideration in the Senate.

According to the City of Idaho Falls, the Idaho Transportation Department is now confident enough to move forward with advertising the Pancheri project.

Because of the delay, Idaho Falls Public Works said actual construction work would be coordinated with school operations during the summer of 2015.

The project includes widening Pancheri Drive from Skyline Drive to Bellin Road to five lanes and installing three pedestrian activated signals to better accommodate pedestrian traffic in between the two schools.