Lawmakers, ITD spar over $9.6 million request to relocate District 4 from Shoshone to Twin Falls

The Idaho Transportation Department on Tuesday renewed a $9.6 million request to relocate its District 4 headquarters from Shoshone to Twin Falls, prompting lawmakers to revisit last year’s decision that had rejected the move.

The request was raised during a Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee hearing on the department’s enhancement budget. Senator Cook, who said the legislature and governor voted last year to reject the relocation, pressed the department to explain why the proposal was back before the committee. “I really have a hard problem that we're revisiting something that we made a decision on last year,” Cook said, noting the previous committee, House, Senate and governor had declined the move.

Scott Stokes, director of the Idaho Transportation Department, told the committee the recommendation to relocate comes from department staff and the Transportation Board and is driven primarily by a long-term service-location decision: “we would like to be closer to the growing community of Twin Falls,” Stokes said. He said the department’s view is that delivering services from a location nearer the population center improves public access and operational responsiveness.

Lawmakers challenged both the cost and the operational need. Cook recalled site visits to the Shoshone property and said staff there reported they did not need a new building but maintenance dollars. Committee discussion cited a count of 71 employees who work at the Shoshone site; committee members also referenced commute-time analyses offered during deliberations. In committee testimony members cited a median one-way commute of 37 minutes to the current Shoshone site and 25 minutes to the proposed Twin Falls site, and an average commute difference of roughly two minutes for some employees, though committee members and staff disputed whether those differences justify a nearly $10 million relocation.

Representative Price asked specifically about prior language requiring at least $1 million be spent on repairs in Shoshone; Director Stokes said work is underway and described roofing and window replacements as the “most urgent” repairs and that final design and bid documents are in progress to allow construction this summer.

Committee members emphasized the prior vote against relocation and questioned whether the department had new evidence that should change the legislature’s earlier conclusion. Stokes said the department’s position reflects different judgments about long-term service delivery and staff access to project sites and noted employees living in or near Twin Falls may be more efficient if headquartered there.

The committee did not take a vote during the hearing; legislators said the relocation request would remain under consideration as part of the broader budget review process.

Looking ahead, committee members asked for additional information about the proposed site design costs, employee commute and usage patterns, and the warranty/maintenance plan for the Shoshone repairs already underway. Director Stokes and department staff said they will follow up with more detailed cost estimates and timelines for both the Shoshone repairs and any planning for a new Twin Falls facility.