Freeze-thaw has state on ... Pothole Patrol

By BRIAN WALKER

Hagadone News Network

COEUR d'ALENE — Dan Evans was frazzled after he pulled off Interstate 90 on Wednesday to fill up his truck.

The Post Falls man had just finished dodging potholes on the freeway in Coeur d'Alene.

"They're like land mines out there," he said. "It's a rough go and you could easily damage your vehicle. It's as bad as I've ever seen it."

Jerry Wilson, a project development engineer for the Idaho Transportation Department, said the state is well aware of the hazards, on pothole patrol and repairing the damage.

"It is worse this year than it has been because of the freeze-thaw conditions," Wilson said. "The road is tired. The winter is really rough on the roadways."

Wilson said crews started to repair the potholes this week as temperatures rose and will continue to do so throughout the winter as conditions allow. Motorists are urged to use caution on the freeway in Coeur d'Alene during the work.

The potholes are on east- and westbound lanes of the freeway, particularly in the Coeur d'Alene area and east of the city.

To help warn motorists, ITD installed temporary warning signs and are displaying messages on electronic roadway readerboards.

"There's better adherence (of the patch material to the roadway) when it is dry, and we'll try to do what we can at night when there is less traffic and it's less dangerous for our crews," Wilson said.

Wilson said the winter patchwork is a Band-Aid to the much-larger reconstruction of Interstate 90 in Coeur d'Alene that is planned for next summer.

Wilson said the freeway is worse than U.S. 95 with potholes this winter because it is older and was built in 1960.

Since then, periodic inlays and overlays have been built and there has been patchwork, but no work on the roadway base has been done.

"If the base breaks up from the freeze-thaw, it transfers to the top," Wilson said. "That's why there's deeper-than-normal potholes."

Both directions of Interstate 90 on the east end of Coeur d'Alene will be completely tore up next year and rebuilt from Ninth Street to Sherman Avenue.

Then, in 2018, the project will resume from Ninth Street to just west of the Northwest Boulevard interchange on the west side of the city.

Wilson said the $20 million project is necessary because the stretch is deteriorated beyond routine repair and maintenance.

Additionally, many semis are having to exit in Coeur d'Alene because the rigs and trailers are too tall to travel under the bridges along I-90. That, in turn, causes traffic snarls in the city and beats up roads such as Appleway that are used for detours.

Ward said the freeway under the bridges will be lowered 2 feet to resolve the semi issue.

Today's minimum standard for clearance under new bridges is 16 feet and Federal Highway Administration recommends 17 feet to get ahead of the curve.

The distance under freeway bridges in Coeur d'Alene are 15 to 16 feet, which has caught some drivers by surprise despite warning signs.

ITD officials said the hope is to start construction around April both years, weather permitting, and be completed by fall.

During both years of the project, the westbound lanes will be completed first. Westbound traffic will be diverted onto a normally-eastbound lane, making the eastbound lanes a two-way road during construction. The scenario will be reversed when construction is occurring on the eastbound lanes.

While freeway traffic will be affected both years, the higher-impact year for the project will be in 2018 due to heavier traffic on I-90 at the west end of Coeur d'Alene, the close proximity of the U.S. 95 and Fourth Street ramps and ramp closures.

An average of 38,880 vehicles, including 4,400 trucks, travel along I-90 in Coeur d'Alene per day during summer season, according to ITD.