Fixing traffic congestion on U.S. 95 in Coeur dAlene will cost anywhere from $125 million to $350 million, and proposed solutions range from simply expanding the road, to turning it into an elevated expressway, to relocating the highway a couple miles west.


Any project likely is 20 years off, however, and traffic continues to grow on the road that serves both as Kootenai Countys main commercial strip and Idahos major north-south thoroughfare, a state-sponsored study says. Traffic on U.S. 95 in the Coeur dAlene area has increased by 50 percent in the last decade, and its expected to double in the next two decades, says Carole Richardson, district transportation planner in Coeur dAlene with the Idaho Department of Transportation. Fueling the traffic increase is Kootenai Countys population growth plus continued retail and commercial development alongside the busy highway.


In the spring of 2000, the state of Idaho launched a study of potential fixes for traffic congestion, and it hopes to identify a preferred solution and potential costs of the project by January. The study looked at an approximately 20-mile stretch of U.S. 95 from Ohio Match Road, north of Hayden, to Mica Creek, south of the Spokane River.


Although any change to U.S. 95 has the potential to affect businesses and landowners along the highway, many say they arent paying much attention to the states current efforts.


Thats partly because a solution is such a long way offonce a preferred alternative is identified, it could take five to 10 years to perform environmental and engineering studies, several years to secure state and federal funding to pay for it, and at least two years to build it, says Andy Mortensen, project manager for the Transpo Group Inc., a McMinnville, Ore., consulting company thats helping the state of Idaho with the study.


Many businesspeople feel as Hayden Lake real estate broker Bill Robinette does, that its 15 to 20 years out, and theres a lot of business to be done between now and then. Robinette is a broker with Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty, of Coeur dAlene, and represents property owners along the highway.


In addition, however, some businesspeople express doubts that the state of Idaho has the deep pockets necessary to pay for some of the higher-priced solutions that have been proposedor the political will to battle landowners and businesses that might be affected negatively by a decision.


I dont think (the state) could hurt whats there nowtheyd have too many fights on their hands, says Steve Ridenour, manager of development services for Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller, who also represents landowners on U.S. 95.


The cheapest alternative is to install median U-turns at major intersections along the routewhich would prevent some left turns at traffic signals, but provide U-turn capabilities on the highway itselfat a projected cost of about $125 million, the study says. Widening the highway to six lanes also is in that price range.


Both of those alternatives, however, would not provide a long-term fix for traffic congestion on the highway, says the Idaho Transportation Departments Richardson.


At the opposite end of the spectrum, building an expressway thats on a different gradeeither higher or lowerthan the current highway with interchanges and improvements on frontage roads would cost between $300 million and $350 million, the study says. A number of options are based on that scenario, but involve building different kinds of intersections to access the expressway.


About a quarter of the people surveyed as part of the study believe the best solution is to build an alternate bypass highway on Huetter Road, about two and a half miles to the west, but that option is nearly as expensive as building a raised or lowered expressway on U.S. 95, Mortensen says.


Its expensive to buy right of way in a new corridor, he says. Right now there isnt adequate public right of way along Huetter Road to accommodate an expressway.


Indeed, the most expensive option of allwith a price tag approaching $350 millionis a Huetter bypass that includes an optional southern extension across the Spokane River and down to Cougar Gulch Road, the study shows.


In all cases, those costs are just estimates, and are calculated in 2000 dollars, Mortensen says. By the time this project gets funded and built, its going to be more expensive than that, he says.


Richardson says theres no clear front-runner among the nine options released by the transportation department last month, a situation that also exists among landowners and businesspeople along the highway.


For example, Ron McIntire, owner of two Super 1 Foods grocery stores on U.S. 95 and mayor of Hayden, says he thinks a bypass highway is a great idea. Itll hopefully eliminate truck traffic and pull buses and trucks off of this (U.S. 95).


Others think that pulling traffic off of U.S. 95 would hurt their businesses.


Traffic is great for retailing, so from a retailers point of view I would hope there would be no significant changes, says Dave Black, CEO of Tomlinson Black Commercial Inc., of Spokane, who is developing a retail project at the intersection of U.S. 95 and Appleway Avenue.


Some businesspeople even hold one opinion as a business owner and another as a Kootenai County resident.


Jim Parker, general manager of Parker Toyota, which is located at the southeast corner of Kathleen Avenue and U.S. 95, says hes not in favor of a bypass route because, Obviously, we like the traffic here. Thats why were here. He adds, however, that from a driving standpoint, (U.S. 95) is a pain in the butt. If Im going to Hayden Lake, I try to find another route.


In many cases, design options call for reducing access to U.S. 95 compared with the level thats currently available, a controversial topic in itself, Mortensen says.


There are two distinctly different voices that say, I see these kind of enhancements, I understand it, and I think its important to improve the states ability to move traffic through the area, he says. Others are saying, Youre changing my access and thats really going to hurt me.


As the planning process moves forward, people need to balance the need for quick access to the highway against projected traffic growth, he says. You have to put this into perspective. This thing wouldnt be built for 20 years, so imagine how bad traffics going to get 20 years from now. Would I rather go a quarter-mile out of my (intended) direction and get there quicker?


Many businesspeople express doubt that the state ever will be able to come up with the money for a big project such as an elevated expressway or bypass route.


Says Super 1s McIntire, Its a dream.


Richardson says those are valid concerns. That kind of money is not easy to get, but having a plan in place will make it a lot easier to get it, she says. In addition, she says the project could be built in phases, meaning all of the money wouldnt have to be raised at one time.


That the state is looking at U.S. 95 is good news to one retail executive on the route, even though hes leery of two of the options proposed by the study. The executive, Steve Pedigo, general manager of Silver Lake Mall, says, Its kind of nice to see theyre actually looking into the future. I commend them for that.