ITD scrapes aside bypass plowing rumor

SANDPOINT — The Idaho Transportation Department is pushing aside another rumor about why the Sand Creek Byway isn’t completely open yet.

Rumor No. 56 holds that the U.S. Highway 95 bypass isn’t open yet because the state hasn’t figured out how to plow its overpasses without cascading snow onto the roadway below.

Not so, according to ITD spokeswoman Barbara Babic.

Snow will be cleared from the bridges in the same manner as the Wallace viaduct and downtown Sandpoint. Babic said plows will push the snow to the side, where it will be scooped up and hauled away.

“That’s how we plow 95 through downtown Sandpoint,” she said.

The state replaced sand for salt as an anti-skid material on state highway routes. A brine solution is used to counteract icing.

In the past, sand had to be swept off of roadways, which sometimes made its way into roadside creeks and water bodies. Babic said the new methods are more environmentally sound.

“We do monitoring and testing on a regular basis,” she added.

The byway is currently slated to open this spring. Plans to open it late last year fell through because work on a pedestrian structure at the east end of Cedar Street Bridge was still ongoing. Guardrail and other safety features also have to be installed.

The pedestrian structure will allow people to walk down from the bridge to the grade of the creek. Babic said there were procurement issues which slowed construction of the structure.

“There have been a few issues in getting the supplies and the materials to do the pedestrian bridge, but those issues have been resolved,” said Babic.

With work on the project nearly idle, a torrent of rumors have filled the silence. ITD shooting down other rumors that it’s not open because structures are sinking and labor disputes.