Welcome
Thank you for your interest in the Rathdrum Prairie Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) study. The PEL is a transportation study that is looking at ways to reduce congestion, enhance connectivity, and improve mobility throughout the region. The study is looking at short-, mid-, and long-term improvements that could be implemented by ITD or other local jurisdictions including cities, counties and highway districts.
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How to Navigate:
- Click on the arrows on the bottom left and right side of your screen.
- Use the navigation menu at the left of the screen to revisit any part of the meeting.
- The pages are intended to be viewed in order to provide information about the study. However, you may use the tabs on the left side of the page to select any page.
How to Participate:
- Click through the slides to learn more about the project.
- Comments
- Provide your comments at any time by clicking the “ COMMENT" button at the top right of the screen.
- You can close the form to continue through the slides. Please make sure to hit the “Submit” button to confirm that your comment is sent to the project team.
- Throughout this meeting, there are clickable links, accordion lists, and tabs with more information, be sure to click around.
- To view the 53 concepts developed as part of Level 1 analysis, go to to the Level 1 Concepts tab.
PEL Study Background
ITD initiated the study in 2022 to evaluate the state highway and federal highway and local roadway system within the Rathdrum Prairie, stretching from Interstate 90 (I-90) north to State Highway 53 (SH-53) and from the Washington state line east to Government Way.
Note: ITD is conducting a separate study for improvements to Interstate 90 from the Washington State Line to State Highway 41 (currently on hold until funding is identified), and from State Highway 41 to 15th Street in Coeur d’Alene.
ITD chose to use the PEL process because it helps transportation decision-makers by examining community, economic, and environmental goals early in the federal environmental process for developing transportation projects.
Growth and congestion are increasing in northern Kootenai County as the area develops. The study is developing concepts for potential improvements to increase safety and reduce traffic delays through proactive planning.
The vision for the Rathdrum Prairie PEL study is to provide safe and reliable travel for the planning year of 2045.
What is a Purpose and Need?
The Purpose and Need provides the framework for evaluating the alternatives and leads to the study’s recommendations. The Purpose and Need is used to screen reasonable alterantives.
Following Public Meeting #1, ITD developed the Purpose and Need for the study. The detailed Purpose and need is available on the project website: itdprojects.idaho.gov/pages/Rathdrum-prairie-pel
For more information, please see the full purpose and need document.
Purpose
The purpose of the transportation recommendations are to improve safety, mobility, as well as system reliability and resiliency for the current and future movement of both people and goods as northern Kootenai County and the Rathdrum Prairie continue to see rapid growth and development.
Need
Address vehicular safety concerns within high-crash corridors and intersections.
Address existing and future transportation system capacity constraints caused by growth.
Provide opportunities to increase safety, mobility, and connects for bicyclists, pedestrians and transit users.
What is a Goal?
Goals are the desired project outcomes beyond the Purpose and Need that provide additional guidance for assessing reasonable alternatives, based on stakeholder and community input.
Goals help balance environmental, transportation, and other community values.
ITD Wants Your Input
What is important to you as we consider transportation improvements in the study area? Please tell us in your comments.
Current goals include developing transportation improvements that have:
- Compatibility with local plans for growth and development.
- Benefits or opportunities for local governments
- Reduce impacts to the community and way of life in the area.
- Reduce environmental impacts.
- Preserve opportunities for greenspace including parks and recreational areas.
- Leverage existing highway and roadways to create improved connections and provide flexibility for future corridor improvements.
- Add more transportation options and choices.
What is a PEL?
The PEL process considers environmental, community, and economic goals early on while planning future projects.
This process is outlined by the Federal Highway Administration and weighs:
- Transportation issues and priorities
- Environmental resources and concerns
- Stakeholder and public concerns
| A PEL is a good option when: | Rathdrum Prairie PEL Study | |
|---|---|---|
| Problems in multiple jurisdictions, on multiple corridords, need to be solved, such as safety concerns, traffic congestion, or infrastructure deficiencies and geographical area may not have key logical terminal. | The PEL will consider multimodal connections and capacity improvements as well as potential new roadway linkages. | |
| There is not identified funding for the project, but federal funding is a possibility. | Partial funding is anticipated in the next 5-7 years, but those funds would only address improvements for a prioritized portion of the study area. | |
| There is a need to gauge public interest and/or gather support for a project and collaborate to develop alternatives. | Provid improvements that serve all types of travelers, including local commuters, freight, and regional tourism. | |
| The study will incorporate previous transportation and land use planning documents and recommendations. | Current infrastructure will not appropriately provide for future growth as identified in adopted local (cities, counties, and metropolitan planning associations [MPO]) land use and comprehensive plans. | |
| There is a desire for agency input and awareness of the project before NEPA begins. | Consider new infrastructure impacts to local roads through coordination with cities, counties, highway districts, and the MPO. | |
| There is a need to identify and screen alternatives that improve safety and mobility for all users, support local land use plans, and minimize impacts. | Identify resources and level of analysis to focus on environmental concerns and allow agencies to proactively avoid, minimize, or mitigate. |
Watch this video to learn more about the steps that take place during a PEL Process.
Area Traffic
- Existing Conditions
- No Action Conditions
- Crash Data
Existing Conditions PM Peak Hour Level of Service
- 8 intersections experienced Level of Service (LOS) E or F during the existing PM peak hour, failing to serve travel demand.
- Additionally, 23 intersections had queues that could be expected to exceed the available turn-lane storage space or spill over into the next intersection.
Generally, ITD seeks to achieve Level of Service (LOS) C or D
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What is included in a PEL?
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Highway and Roadway Jurisdictions
ITD is responsible for the statewide highway system and has jurisdictional responsibility for almost 5,000 miles of highway (or nearly 12,000 lane miles), more than 1,700 bridges, and 30 recreational and emergency airstrips. Also included on the state highway system are 30 rest areas and 10 fixed ports of entry. Within the study area, ITD is responsible for I-90, US-95, SH-53 and SH-41.
Regional and Local Jurisdictions include cities, counties, and highway districts. They plan, design, construct, preserve and maintain roads and bridges within their jurisdiction that are not under control of ITD.
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Level 1 Concepts
ITD used public and stakeholder input, planning best practices, and collaboration with agencies and jurisdictions to develop more than 50 Level 1 Concepts.
For more information, view the Level 1 Concepts StoryMap or review the Level 1 Concepts PDF.
What is a Level 1 Concept?
Level 1 Concepts are ideas for transportation solutions that can be further refined and combine into alternatives during the Level 2 and 3 screening process. Concepts include an alignment (location on a map) and a general description, sometimes including a general representative cross-section.
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Where are we in the process?
