Repairs push back bypass opening
<p>Work to repair cracks in an approach slab to the 1,037-foot-long mainline span over Sand Creek is pushing back the project’s opening date. (Photo by KEITH KINNAIRD)</p>
SANDPOINT — Cracks at the south end of the Sand Creek Byway are forcing the Idaho Transportation Department to push back the opening of the U.S. Highway 95 realignment project.
A dedication ceremony for the project was set for May 31 and expectations were high that it could also serve as the grand opening for the byway. But work on repairing the cracks will postpone those plans.
“They think they can have it open the week of Fourth of July,” said Barbara Babic, ITD’s Panhandle region spokeswoman.
The bike and pedestrian paths are forecasted to be opened to the public when the roadway is opened to motorists.
“We’ll be able to open the bike path at the same time because most of the landscaping and all that should be done,” Babic said.
The repairs could reportedly cost ITD as much as $500,000, although Babic said she has not seen any cost estimates for the work.
A reinforced soil embankment settled more than anticipated, leading to cracks in an approach slab to the project’s mainline bridge over Sand Creek. It also created a vertical offset between the approach slab and a beam which helps support the slab, according to ITD.
Highway officials said the approach slab settled less than the fill did and the condition was compounded by different settling rates of concrete and asphalt.
A 13-point modification plan was developed to address the problem. The project’s lead contractor, Parsons RCI, is reviewing the modification plan.
The North Idaho Community Action Network commissioned a study in 2004 which predicted differential settlement.
“Here we are millions of taxpayer dollars and several years later, and ITD has discovered that the elevated highway that replaced Sandpoint’s waterfront with ugly walls has a problem. Lo and behold, the massive embankments with the highway perched on top are sinking,” Liz Sedler, former executive director of NICAN, said in a statement.
Although the project isn’t officially scheduled to be done until this fall, anticipation for its opening is feverish and the reasons for the perceived delay have become a popular parlor game of speculation.