ACHD may spend $31M on a mile-and-a-half stretch of road. Why, and where?
Have you ever been trapped in rush hour and thought to yourself: Man, couldn’t the Ada County Highway District do something to make traffic a little bit better for all of us?
In parts of Meridian, the congestion could be even more pronounced. The state’s second-largest city’s population has grown tremendously — nearly doubling from about 75,000 residents in 2010 to almost 143,000 in 2024, according to the Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho. In the five-year period from June 2019 to June 2024, average daily traffic counts in Meridian increased by about 33,500, according to the Idaho Transportation Department.
The Ada County Highway District is starting to find itself in shifting sand as it contemplates ways to ease this congestion — including a 1½ mile stretch of Linder Road in Meridian. But it would come at both a personal and financial cost.
In about six weeks, the agency’s board of commissioners is set to choose among three proposals to upgrade and possibly widen the mostly two-lane road segment from Pine Avenue, next to Meridian High School, north past Tully Park to Linder’s intersection with Ustick Road. The first plan would cost taxpayers $16.7 million. The other two: $31 million.
That’s nearly one-fifth as much as ACHD’s entire 2024 budget. ACHD says it cannot say whether the amount is a record for a road-improvement project of that length, because every project is different. But it is enough to make some of the district’s elected commissioners worry that they may soon be forced to shelve other high-priority projects as ACHD runs short of money to build them.
Plans are being reviewed by the Ada County Highway District that would dramatically change Linder Road in Meridian. Two plans would construct roundabouts at the intersection with Chateau pictured here, and Sandalwood Drive farther south.
According to Kristy Inselman, planning and programming supervisor with ACHD, the agency is feeling the inflation of the past few years with infrastructure costs triple to quadruple what they were five years ago.
“When (projects) cost more, it may take us longer to get them done,” said Rachel Bjornestad, spokesperson for ACHD.
Commissioner Kent Goldthorpe had stark words during an April meeting on the Linder Road project, saying that the agency soon wouldn’t have sufficient revenues to keep up with inflation.
“I can see the day coming very quickly that we are looking at maybe two or three major projects a year,” Goldthorpe said. “The day of having enough money to do a lot of things is just about over.”
A new Linder Road in Meridian
The Linder Road upgrade is not yet budgeted, so it could become one of those projects.
The three plans are not final designs nor final cost estimates. Once the commission chooses one, the agency will design the project and make a more precise estimate of its cost, Inselman said.
“These are just high-level cost estimates,” Inselman said.
The $16.7 million plan would feature a three-lane design with two single-lane roundabouts at Chateau and Sandalwood drives, according to Brooke Green, senior transportation planner with ACHD. Between Sandalwood and Chateau, which are the segment’s most congested intersections, the agency would add a landscaped median and frontage roads for walking, biking and resident access that would dig into parts of homeowners’ lawns on both sides.
The first plan would see a single-lane roundabout at Chateau Drive, pictured here, and a second one at Sandalwood Drive further south.
Walkers and bikers could use that shared road, along with residents’ cars for access to their homes.
According to Green, ACHD would add elements, such as a different texture of pavement, to prevent drivers from using the shared road as a shortcut around traffic.
“This is just an access point for residents who reside adjacent to it,” Green said. “The outside lanes are just driveway access.”
The second plan — the most popular option among nearly 450 people who responded to ACHD surveys quizzing the community on the different plans — would bump the number of lanes up to five and include a pathway on each side of the road.
While it would improve traffic flow and improve walker visibility, it would encourage drivers to drive faster, reduce congestion only minimally, and it would take up more space than the alternatives, according to ACHD’s project website.
Green said ACHD would have to buy 34 homes and relocate the residents. Roughly a third of the estimated $31.1 million price tag comes from buying the homes.
The third option would combine elements of the others, with a five-lane road and a shared road on one side between Chateau and Sandalwood. Roundabouts would be built at those intersections. ACHD would need to buy 26 homes. The total cost: $30.9 million.
“This is the first time, in my memory that there’s this many homes that would have to be purchased in the same in a single project,” said Commissioner Jim Hansen during the April meeting.
One proposal would require ACHD to buy 34 homes and demolish them to widen the road. The highway district would first need to buy the crossed-out homes in this aerial image between Chateau and Sandalwood drives.
“We know there is a potential for larger property impacts to the neighborhood and community members that live along the corridor,” Inselman said. “It’s a very personal thing when talking about potentially taking somebody’s home.”
Inselman said that the agency has met with homeowners several times and has gotten mixed opinions. People generally understand, she said. Some plan to relocate regardless of which plan moves forward, while others want to stay.
“The reality is, this is someone’s home,” Green said.
According to Inselman, ACHD does estimates of homes in the area and pays a fair market price for the homes. Third-party appraisers come in to help with negotiations. ACHD also helps pay for relocations.
“We are required by law to pay the going rate,” Inselman said.
The median price of an existing home in that part of Meridian was $542,500 in June, according to the Intermountain Multiple Listing Service.
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