A Kootenai County transportation planning organizations recent decision to recommend a route for a proposed expressway that would divert traffic off of the highly used stretch of U.S. 95 north of Interstate 90 has triggered land-use planning issues for several North Idaho jurisdictions.


It also has raised the eyebrows of some and the speculative instincts of others as people look ahead to how the massive project could affect them.


Last month, the Kootenai Metropolitan Planning Organization, a federally mandated transportation planning group known as the KMPO, recommended a route for the proposed high-speed roadway, following about a decade of study that initially included nine possible alternatives.


The route the KMPO chose would have its southern terminus at I-90, just east of the Huetter rest area, and generally would follow Huetter Road north to about Lancaster Avenue, where it would veer northeast and follow a railroad right of way to intersect with U.S. 95 at about state Route 53. The expressway would enable vehicles to bypass the busy, roughly 8-mile stretch of U.S. 95 through northern Coeur dAlene and the Hayden area.


Now, jurisdictions such as the cities of Coeur dAlene, Post Falls, Rathdrum, and Hayden, as well as Kootenai County, the Idaho Transportation Department, and the Post Falls Highway District, will be expected to incorporate the proposed route in their land-use planning processes.


KMPO spokeswoman Stacy Lehman describes the Huetter route recommendation as a step to say, Lets not let people build on land needed for the project.


Lehman says some people who own property in the proposed corridor already have called the KMPO to ask if they should build a garage on their land, she says. Theyve probably got 10 to 15 years to use it, but it probably wouldnt be a good idea to build a house there.


The KMPO is made up of representatives of the four highway districts in the county, as well as the cities of Coeur dAlene, Post Falls, Hayden, and Rathdrum, and the Coeur dAlene Tribe.


As envisioned, the Huetter bypass would reroute a section of U.S. 95 with a four-lane express way that eventually could be expanded to six lanes. It would have freeway-like interchanges located at I-90 and U.S. 95, and at about one-mile intervals between, including at Poleline, Prairie, Hayden, Wyoming, and Lancaster avenues, says Christine Fueston, a planner with Ruen-Yaeger & Associates, a Coeur dAlene engineering firm hired by the KMPO to study the Huetter route and other proposed alternatives.


The route would follow Huetter Road for about six miles before veering right to follow the Union Pacific Railroad line that runs diagonally across the Rathdrum Prairie. The Huetter bypass would intersect with U.S. 95 just south of the current SR 53 junction in the Garwood area.


The route would encroach on nearly 400 parcels, or more than 2,500 acres.


Fueston says UP might decide to move its tracks north, along the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway tracks as part of the bridging the valley project, which is aimed at reducing the number of at-grade railroad-highway intersections between Spokane and Athol, Idaho. If that happens, the expressway would follow the former railroad right of way, she says. If the tracks arent moved, the Huetter route would run parallel to the tracks on a course about 300 feet north of the tracks.


As envisioned, Huetter Road would be realigned as a frontage road on the west side of the expressway.


That type of project could have impacts both on the land along the corridor on which it has been proposed and the current U.S. 95 corridor, observers say.


Monte Risvold, a longtime commercial real estate executive in North Idaho, says its difficult to predict how land would be developed along the proposed corridor, though he says land use there certainly would be affected.


Naturally, it would be commercial, but development appeal would depend on whether its accessible, Risvold says, noting that access points are proposed to be no closer than a mile of one another.


Frontage is only as good as the ability to get to it, he says. If its inconvenient or difficult, people will go to the path of least resistance.


As for the impacts the proposed expressway might have on U.S. 95 north of I-90, Risvold says they likely would be positive, at least for some businesses along that busy, 8-mile commercial stretch.


Traffic congestion (along U.S. 95), especially in the summer, already is a detriment, and its getting worse, he says. People are taking other routes, such as Government Way to the east or Ramsey Road to the west, to avoid traffic.


The intersection of U.S. 95 and Appleway Avenue, just north of I-90, is considered the busiest intersection in North Idaho, with daily traffic counts of up to 36,000 vehicles, Risvold says.


Gary Schneidmiller, owner of Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty, of Coeur dAlene, says the route envisioned probably wont be a business route if it has limited access, but could be a catalyst for residential development on remaining farmland on the Prairie.


It makes it more accessible to Interstate 90 and Spokane in terms of timing, he says. You want a good transportation system, and you want to be close to it.


Schneidmiller was raised in a farming family with large land holdings on the Rathdrum Prairie. He also owns a real estate office at U.S. 95 and Hanley Avenue, in the north end of Coeur dAlene.


He says an alternate route west of town shouldnt hurt business traffic on U.S. 95 in Coeur dAlene.


I think there will be plenty of traffic along U.S. 95, and it will continue to grow, says Schneidmiller.


Much of the traffic that currently travels U.S. 95 isnt business traffic.


A lot of people there are not trying to find businesses, he says. They are trying to move to or from places farther north.


Fueston says one of the engineering firms next tasks will be to estimate costs. A preliminary assessment conducted by Ruen-Yaeger put the value of right of way corridor at $377 million. Fueston says the estimate includes right of way for several alignment possibilities, and once the final alignment is chosen, the actual right of way acquisition costs likely would be less.


At this point, the proposed project has no timeline, although Fueston says its envisioned that the route will be able to carry 38,000 vehicles a day in 2030.


Idaho Transportation Department spokeswoman Barbara Babic says most funds for the proposed Huetter route would probably come from federal highway monies. It may be a joint state and local project, she says. No decisions have been made, but it will be mostly federal money.


Separately, the Transportation Department plans to upgrade U.S. 95 from Garwood north to Sagle as a four-lane, divided freeway with interchange access similar to I-90, Babic says. Construction on that project is to begin next year, pending final environmental approval.


While the 30-mile U.S. 95 upgrade is estimated to cost about $342 million, only $83 million is funded through 2009.


Beyond that we dont have any funds identified, she says.


Meanwhile, Glenn Miles, KMPO executive director, says each jurisdiction along the Huetter bypass route will be asked to protect the proposed corridor.


The recommendation will go to each jurisdiction and ask that they include provisions in their comprehensive land-use plans to protect (the route) from encroachment in the future, Miles says.


The KMPO updates its 30-year metropolitan transportation plan every four years, and proposed projects must be included in the plan to be eligible for federal funding.


While the KMPO has no authority over the individual jurisdictions, each jurisdiction has a member on the KMPO board. If the board acted collectively, I would presume individual jurisdictions will act similarly, Miles says.


The boards vote on the route recommendation, however, was 6 to 3 in favor, indicating that there is some opposition to the plan.


One of those no votes was cast by Clay Larkin, mayor of Post Falls.


Larkin says the KMPO recommendation would put too many limits on land use for the sake of a project that has no identified funding.


Were talking about a project thats 20 years out, when the Idaho Transportation Department is $2 billion in arrears for planned projects, he says.


Larkin says the proposed U.S. 95 alignment puts most of the burden on property owners on the west side of Huetter Road, rather than on the east side of Huetter, where the land is within the city limits of Coeur dAlene and Hayden.


He says he doubts that Post Falls City Council will embrace the KMPO right of way recommendation.


My guess is it will have tough sledding with us, he says.


Also, Larkin describes the proposed Huetter route as only half a bypass because it doesnt extend south of I-90, and wouldnt be used by motorists coming from south of Coeur dAlene.


Who would travel up U.S. 95 to Coeur dAlene, then drive four miles to the west to take a bypass, when that would probably take just as long as it would to drive through Coeur dAlene? he says.


Transportation resources would be put to better use on improvements to the current U.S. 95, in Coeur dAlene, and state Route 41, in Post Falls, and on a new interchange at I-90 and Greensferry Road, in Post Falls, he says.


Jonathan Coe, president and general manager of the Coeur dAlene Chamber of Commerce, says the chamber supports the proposed bypass as a high-speed alternative to U.S. 95 in Coeur dAlene.


Its clear U.S. 95 is at or near capacity and will become overtaxed, Coe says. The key is to start with right-of-way acquisition as quickly as possible. The longer they wait, the more dislocation will be associated with it.


Contact Mike McLean at (509) 344-1266 or via e-mail at mikem@spokanejournal.com.