Exit 344 south of St. Anthony set to get some upgrades
ST. ANTHONY, Idaho (KIFI) - An interchange construction project will start late in the construction season on Thursday.The project will take the US 20 interchange along 400 North in St. Anthony and turn it into a tight diamond interchange exit.
The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) hopes that by making this change to the interchange the exit will not only be able to handle the growth Eastern Idaho is facing but also keep traffic safer.
"This will help traffic so that those who are traveling through Saint Anthony will not have to worry about cross traffic and those conflicts. But it'll also help those who are getting on or off Highway 20 as they go north or south," ITD project manager Gregg Bowman said.
A tight diamond Interchange at theexit at 400 North will end up looking very similar to the Thornton Exit and the Menan-Lorenzo interchange. Part of the reason for the late start is due to the canals which are a big part of Idaho summers.
"There will be some work done this winter. There is some canal work that needs to be done during the winter that cannot be done while there's water in the canals. There is also some work that can be done, this winter or this fall to speed up the construction process. This interchange is gonna be built similar to other interchanges in the area," Bowman said.
He added the process of building this interchange will be similar to the way ITD built the newer Thornton Interchange.
"A few years ago. So the Thornton interchange was built where we built the ramps first and put the traffics on the ramps so that traffic there was the least amount of impact to the traveling public so that they can travel generally the same speeds and get to where they're going in a timely manner. But we're still able to construct this the structure as well in a in a timely manner," Bowman said.
Funding comes from the Leading Idaho Transportation Expansion and Congestion Mitigation. Which has allowed the project to become a little accelerated. A hopeful end date is the spring of 2025.
For more information on the project, you can find it here.
