Another bridge across Boise River? Eagle, Boise, Garden City commuters could benefit
Between the growing cities of Boise and Eagle, only two roads cross the Boise River to provide access north to south. The bridges on Eagle Road and Glenwood Street carry more than 85,000 vehicles on average per weekday.
Another river crossing between Boise and Eagle is needed, Eagle Mayor Jason Pierce says.
The city of Eagle has reinvigorated support for a long-dead proposal to add another river crossing from State Street to Chinden Boulevard between Cloverdale Road and Five Mile Road. It is called Three Cities Crossing, the cities being Eagle, Boise and Garden City.
“This would give us another north-south connection,” said Pierce at a City Council meeting Nov. 9. “We really think that it needs to be brought back to the table to relieve some stress on Eagle (Road) from people coming from McCall, or coming from Boise to go to Meridian and so on.”
In 2003, the Ada County Highway District began a study of Three Cities Crossing as an alternate to the State Highway 55 (Eagle Road) and State Highway 44 (Glenwood Street) crossings, said Amy Luft, spokesperson for the Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho.
ACHD decided not to build bridge in 2000s
Later, ACHD decided not to build the bridge and its adjoining highway segments, because it would cost more than it was worth, Luft said in an email.
Since 2010, the land around the Boise River has been preserved for a future crossing, but the project has remained unfunded.
In June, Pierce and Nicole Baird Spencer, long-range planner for Eagle, met with the Idaho Transportation Department to ask for its support in stopping Compass from removing the Three Cities Crossing from Compass’s long-range plan.
The Eagle officials say growth has contributed to congestion on the Eagle and Glenwood river crossings. Pierce noted that the state bought the former Hewlett Packard campus on Chinden Boulevard a few years ago, has moved some workers there and plans to move more soon. He anticipates that will bring even more traffic to Glenwood Street and Eagle Road.
Compass updates its long-range plan every five years. As the federally designated regional transportation-planning agency for the Treasure Valley, Compass’s plans are key to qualifying local highway-construction project for federal highway funds.
Idaho Transportation Department says yes
Compass requires a transportation agency like ACHD or ITD to sponsor a project to keep it on the plan. In June, the city of Eagle asked ITD to be the agency sponsor, and the ITD board agreed, said Jillian Garrigues, spokesperson for ITD in an email.
“We have a chance of this moving forward and with a lot of the transportation dollars that are out there, we think it’s something that could be done sooner than later,” Pierce said.
According to the city’s presentation to ITD, 2010 estimates showed the cost of the project at about $148 million. The cost would likely be higher now.
In 2000, the population of Boise was 185,000, the population of Eagle was 11,000 and the population of Garden City was 10,000, according to Compass. Today, Compass estimates the population of Boise is 243,500, Eagle is 34,000 and Garden City is 13,000.
Since first discussing the crossing, ACHD decided it would not provide enough benefits to make it worth the money and effort. But now, as each city has grown by at least 30%, so has the need for a third crossing, advocates said.
During the afternoon peak hours, 3 to 6 p.m., Glenwood Street and Eagle Road each carries between 3,300 and 3,500 vehicles per hour, Luft said.
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