Idaho starts Pleasant View interchange work after $36M FRA grade‑crossing grant

The Idaho Transportation Department has moved construction forward on the Pleasant View Interchange on State Highway 53 after securing federal funding and local partner contributions.

James Dorman, project manager for ITD, told the summit that the project—identified in a 2006 corridor study—received an FRA grade‑crossing elimination grant (RCE) providing up to $36,000,000 at an 80 percent federal match. He said contractors began work on Sept. 30 and the low bid was about $28,000,000; ITD anticipates project completion on Nov. 26 (year not specified in the session).

What the project does: Dorman said the work will remove two at‑grade crossings (Prairie and Maguire), construct two new bridges (a steel bridge over BNSF tracks and a concrete girder bridge over the realigned highway), realign local frontage and eliminate direct access from two side roads onto the state highway. The grant application figures cited 14,400 vehicles daily at the three crossings that the interchange will address and an estimated avoided fatal crashes over 30 years (0.187 fatal crashes projected in the application’s analytics).

Funding partners and local impacts: ITD reported a $2,000,000 contribution from the local highway district and $3,000,000 from BNSF; the remaining match comes from state funds. Dorman said the bridge design preserved right‑of‑way for up to four tracks in the corridor and that temporary signals and traffic realignments will be used during construction to manage access.

Why it matters: ITD and local officials framed the interchange as a safety and mobility investment that will reduce gate downtime and emergency‑response delays on a corridor that carries significant freight traffic. Dorman also noted that preserving extra right‑of‑way anticipates future capacity needs.