Construction is under way on Idaho Highway 53, reducing the highway to one lane, with flaggers on scene, as crews widen the shoulders between U.S.-95 and Ramsey Road.

Lane closures are expected during the day for approximately two weeks, and trees west of U.S.-95 also will be removed to accommodate a new alignment for ID-53.

This is the beginning of construction to reconfigure several roadways near the current U.S.-95 junctions with ID-53 and Garwood Road north of Hayden, with project completion planned for fall 2021.

Work in August includes installation of a temporary signal at ID-53 and Ramsey Road to help with extra traffic during later detours. Signal installation is scheduled to take a week, with intermittent lane closures and flaggers expected in the area. A permanent signal will be placed in 2022 under a different project.

Following the temporary signal installation, traffic will be detoured in late August as the bridge over the railroad and the new interchange for U.S.-95 and ID-53 are built, with work expected through fall 2020.

Traffic on U.S.-95 will not be impacted for the majority of construction, but traffic on ID-53 will be detoured around the bridge and interchange construction to Garwood Road via Old U.S.-95.

In 2020 and 2021, frontage roads and an overpass at Garwood Road will be constructed. Total improvements, though not all awarded to contractors, are funded primarily with an estimated $41 million from the GARVEE program and another $13.9 million in federal aid.

Email updates are available by subscribing at itdprojects.org/us95id53.