Lawmakers, ITD spar over $9.6M plan to relocate District 4 from Shoshone to Twin Falls

The Idaho Transportation Department renewed a $9.6 million request to relocate its District 4 headquarters from Shoshone to Twin Falls, prompting skeptical questions at a Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee hearing.

Senator Scott Cook pressed ITD Director Scott Stokes and staff on the repeated request, saying the committee, the House, the Senate and the governor all rejected the move last year. “Why are we seeing this asked again?” Cook asked, noting his site visits to the Shoshone campus and workers’ views that the building primarily needs maintenance rather than replacement.

Director Scott Stokes, identified at the hearing as director of the Idaho Transportation Department, told the committee the Transportation Board and ITD staff recommend relocating District 4 to better position state services near a growing population center. “We would like to be closer to the growing community of Twin Falls,” Stokes said. He described the request as a long-term investment in service delivery rather than an immediate response to the Shoshone building’s condition.

Committee members questioned the benefits cited by ITD. Cook noted ITD’s own commute-time analysis showing a two-minute average difference and a 12-minute median difference between the current and proposed locations for some residents and staff. “Do you feel 12 minutes of commute time is worth asking Idaho taxpayers for $9.6 million to relocate that building?” Cook asked.

Stokes said the recommendation is ultimately for the Legislature to decide and reiterated the department’s view that the new location would improve long-term service delivery for the public and staff working on projects south of Twin Falls. Representative Luanne Price asked about a previously directed minimum of $1 million for repairs to the Shoshone building; Stokes said ITD is preparing bids and expects roofing and window work to be installed in the summer.

Committee members also pressed whether ITD had fully explored less costly alternatives — for example, using local public meeting spaces rather than building a new headquarters — and whether the department’s operational patterns (many employees working from the Shoshone building and not traveling frequently to job sites) supported moving the facility.

No formal decision was made during the hearing. Members repeatedly referenced last year’s rejection of the relocation by the Legislature and the governor and asked ITD to provide more evidence showing why a move would better serve the public and justify the cost.

ITD said the request remains under consideration and emphasized that the department will provide additional details if the Legislature reconsiders the relocation in the budget process.