A project to correct severe pavement deficiencies on Interstate 84′s eastbound lanes between Boise and Mountain Home, under way since mid-July, will finish in mid-December, according to the Idaho Transportation Department. ITD says the improvement will benefit commuters, including many airmen from the Mountain Home Air Force Base.

“Many airmen from Mountain Home Air Force Base reside in and often visit Idaho’s vibrant capital city,” said Lt. Col. Ainsley O’Reilly, chief of 366th Fighter Wing Safety. “The newly repaved section of I-84 greatly enhances the surface condition of the roadway between Boise and Mountain Home to make the commute safer for our airmen and other transient traffic using the corridor.”
The $10.4 million project begins near milepost 70 (the Stage Stop and Mayfield Road Interchange) and extends east of the Simco Road Interchange to milepost 82.2.

Signs were installed last fall along the stretch of highway asking truck drivers to move left to preserve the pavement in the right lanes until the pavement could be repaired in this project. The top two inches of the existing pavement was removed and 10 inches of concrete applied in its place to form the new travel surface.

According to an ITD news release, crews initially built crossovers to route traffic from the east to the west side. Traffic shared the westbound travel lanes during the work in an opposing one-lane configuration. The ramps at exits 71 (Stage Stop) and 74 (Simco Road) also were repaired.

The stretch of I-84 was constructed in 1959. The road received an overlay in 1961, another overlay in 1989, and seal coats in 1986 and 2002. ITD maintenance crews did some blade patching (a maintenance technique for repairing an asphalt surface) last fall to extend the roadway use until a more permanent fix could be applied via this project.

(photo courtesy: Idaho Transportation Department)