Rathdrum Prairie PEL Study

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.

The meeting purpose is to share the transportation improvement alternatives developed for the Level 2 screening and screening results. For more information, view the Level 2 Alternatives StoryMap or review the Level 2 Alternatives PDF.

ITD initiated the study in 2022 to evaluate the state and federal highway and local roadway system within the Rathdrum Prairie, stretching from Interstate 90 north to State Highway 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.

Level 2 Screening is comparative — in other words: how do the alternatives compare to each other?

In addition to traffic analysis, GIS modeling, and planning best practices, public and stakeholder feedback were used to screen alternatives. The Level 2 Alternatives are specific to existing and new highways and roadways and include design assumptions like alignment locations, highway and roadway cross sections, intersection and interchange locations, and overall area and space needed to provide each alternative.

Level 2 Screening Criteria were divided into the following categories and each of the 13 Level 2 Alternatives were measured by how they meet each criterion:

• Safety
• Congestion
• Efficiency and Redundancy
• Mobility
• Property Impacts
• Community Planning
• Environmental Resources
• Implementation

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ITD used public and stakeholder input, planning best practices, and collaboration with agencies and jurisdictions to reduce the more than 50 Level 1 Concepts to 13 Level 2 Alternatives.

For more information, view the Level 2 Alternatives StoryMap or review the Level 2 Alternatives PDF.

What is a Level 2 Alternative?

Level 2 Alternatives are potential transportation solutions that can be compared to each other to understand their relative benefits and impacts in order to decide which will be carried forward to the Level 3 screening process.

Level 2 Alternatives displayed at the links above include alignment (thick lines on a map), number of lanes, and preliminary roadway layouts displayed on aerial photo maps.

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• Interchange: Grade separation of access between roadways with on- and off-ramps.
• Expanded Highway: Adds capacity to existing state or federal highway corridors with additional lanes or other improvements (SH-41, SH-53, US-95). Maintains at-grade signalized intersections.
• Local Access Road: Provides access to adjacent land uses while consolidating access to the main roadway.
• Express Lanes: Adds new lanes for the purpose of separating pass-through traffic from general purpose local traffic.
• Access Controlled Highway: Free flow roadway with access controlled by interchanges connected to local access roads. No at-grade signalized or any other intersections.
• Improved Arterial: Update local roadway to four lanes with a left-turn lane in the median, as traffic volumes warrant.

Level 3 Evaluation

ITD will further develop, combine, and evaluate the alternatives carried forward into Level 3 using the following steps:

• Develop Level 3 Scenarios based on what is carried forward from our current Level 2 screening.
• Evaluate alternatives to provide more information about the benefits and impacts of the potential study recommendations from conceptual cost estimates and potential right-of-way impacts.
• Conduct another public meeting to share study progress, Level 3 Scenarios, and gather and incorporate community and stakeholder feedback.
• Finalize the PEL study.

ITD anticipates that the PEL study will be complete by summer/fall 2025 and potential transportation solutions will move into the NEPA analysis.

ITD will seek public input throughout the PEL process and public involvement will continue through NPEA analysis and design phases.

Public input will be an important part of the decision-making process and will be balanced with technical information and environmental and engineering best-practices.