Highway 200 traffic shift nears

PONDERAY — Traffic on Highway 200 is tentatively scheduled to be shifted to newly paved temporary lanes later this week to accommodate construction of the U.S. Highway 95 bypass.

The traffic shift is slated for Thursday or Friday, although Sand Creek Byway officials said it could be pushed back a little further. The traffic would be shifted to the southeast of the existing Highway 200 alignment.

Preparations for fabrication and installation of the bridge deck on the Highway 200 overpass is ongoing, as is the grading, paving and striping of the temporary traffic lanes.

Cap rock installation on the mainline retaining wall south of the new overpass is scheduled to be completed this week. Moving south, preparation and layout of the cast-in-place wall face for the mainline retaining wall is set for next week.

Mass excavation continues on the Sand Creek Peninsula, across from the former chamber of commerce building. The settlement of surcharge south of the area being excavated is forecasted to be done by the week’s end. The removal of the surcharge material and the installation of a gravity wall will follow.

In Sandpoint, footing construction for the pre-cast concrete wall panels for the east side of the overpass access ramp on the Long Bridge is ongoing. Removal of phase-two surcharge material on the Sandpoint off-ramp is scheduled to be done next week.

Weekly construction update meetings are held at 11 a.m. on Thursdays at the Transportation Information Office, located at 202 North Second Ave. Updates are also posted to the Idaho Transportation Department’s website (itd.idaho.gov/projects/d1).