BOISE — During rush hour, traffic on State Street and Veterans Memorial Parkway can be an issue.
But after months of construction - a brand new type of intersection for Idaho is expected to provide major relief.
The so-called "thru-turn" intersection opened late Tuesday night.
Here's how it works: Drivers on State Street are no longer able to make a left-hand turn onto Veterans Memorial Parkway, or a left-hand turn onto 36th Street.
Instead, those drivers continue through the intersection, make a U-turn at the next traffic signal, and then head back to the intersection to make a right turn onto Veterans Memorial Parkway or onto 36th Street.
The Ada County Highway District says this "thru-turn" intersection will reduce wait times at the intersection by about 50 percent and will provide room for bicycle lanes at all four intersection approaches.
Taking out left turn signals on State Street will also allow two more driving lanes and additional pedestrian crossings.
Officials will be monitoring the intersection over the coming days to make sure it's working as intended.
"[Wednesday] we're still going to have engineers out there all day," said ACHD spokesperson Natalie Shaver. "So they're going to be working about a 14-hour shift watching at different times, tweaking as needed, trying to see when they need to change the signal times - things like that so we can keep traffic flowing."