NAMPA, Idaho — Highway 16 might be a road to nowhere right now, but if a proposal goes through, so too will Highway 16 - all the way to the interstate.
The Idaho Transportation Department hosted an open house in Nampa Wednesday to give the public a chance to review the proposal.
Several hundred people turned out. And as you can imagine, the reaction was mixed.
“It's going to stretch from Highway 26 to Interstate 84,” ITD spokesman Jake Melder said.
For the past year, ITD has been refining the conceptual design for the Highway 16 corridor.
“This highway is one that really is part of the vision for transportation within the Treasure Valley and the connection from where it is today to I-84 is a critical part of being able to keep people moving safely as we continue to see considerable growth here,” Melder said.
That corridor would begin at I-84 west of McDermott Road and extend north to Highway 44. But before they move forward ITD wants to hear from the public.
“Right now we have some limited funds for this corridor to purchase right of way that's critical for us to preserve the corridor and buy land today or in the near future,” Melder said.
There are still a lot of steps to go through as ITD works to secure funding and its final design.
“One of the big things here is this continues to show people what the vision for transportation is, and it also addresses and brings to light some of the funding needs we have and ongoing so people are aware what our goals are and what our needs are,” Melder said.
For those who were not able to attend Wednesday’s open house, ITD is accepting public comments online.
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