POST FALLS, ID. -- There's been a big victory for city leaders in Post Falls. For years, they've tried to add another freeway exit at Interstate 90 and Greensferry Road. State officials now say actual planning for that exit can begin. In the last decade, the I-90 corridor from Stateline to Highway 41 has become more congested, as have the exits on and off the freeway. "We've had hundreds of accidents that have actually occurred as a result of the interchange being overcrowded," says Eric Keck, Post Falls City Administrator. According to the city, Post Falls and the Rathdrum Prairie has simply outgrown this vital intersection. Now the City of Post Falls has a simple, but expensive solution -- make another intersection about a mile away at Greensferry Road. Mayor Clay Larkin and others at City Hall have talked to the Idaho Department of Transportation about this for years. "The mayor went down to the ITD board with check in hand and said, 'If we give you this money, will you finish this project.?'" recalls Keck, "They said, 'We won't guarantee that we'll build it, but we'll keep this project alive.'" So local taxpayers paid $350,000 to fund an environmental assessment for what would be a federal project -- a rare and controversial decision. The Urban Renewal District paid more than $1 million to work on design, which the city just found out can now begin. But although things are moving positively for the city, they are also moving slowly. And there's still a chance the construction may never happen. Even when city funded designs are complete, the project could cost up to $40 million. No one is sure where that money will come from.
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