This Ada-and-Canyon road could see a 500% increase in traffic in 2 decades. What?!
A new section of Ustick Road is coming.
Elected officials, including Idaho House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, Nampa Mayor Debbie Kling and members of transportation agencies gathered Tuesday north of Nampa to celebrate a groundbreaking of the second phase of a project to reshape 1½ miles of the busy traffic corridor from a two-lane rural road into a four-lane arterial. Construction is set to start in late spring 2025.
The road sees nearly 5,000 vehicles per day, but that number could explode by over 500% by 2045, when it is projected to hit 31,000 vehicles per day, according to the city. Much of the traffic would come from the new and expanded Highway 16, which is set to connect to Ustick between McDermott Road and Owyhee Storm Avenue.
“You can imagine trying to put 31,000 cars per day on a two-lane road with stop signs,” said Tom Points, senior director of public works for the city of Nampa. “It’s just it wouldn’t work.”
“We got to get ahead of the growth, and we all know what’s going to come,” Moyle said. “We know that all these farm fields — which I hate to see, because I still farm — is getting turned into houses.”
House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, spoke during a groundbreaking event for the expansion of Ustick Road and State Highway 16, which runs just east of Star.
To combat the influx, the city received a $10 million grant for the project from a competitive pool of over $293 million in submitted needs across the state, according to the release. The grant was established through legislation in 2023 to mitigate the impacts of new state highway systems on local road networks.
The first phase sought to improve utility, roads and intersections from Madison Road to State Highway 16 as well as installing sewer, water and irrigation lines for northeast Nampa.
The second phase would widen the stretch of Ustick between the Phyllis Canal, just south of Can Ada Road, and Owyhee Storm Avenue, which runs north-south past Owyhee High School, according to the city.
The project would have two 11-foot lanes each way and a raised center median that includes sections for U-turns and driveway access, along with U-turn “loons,” curved pavement that pops out from the road’s outer edge to allow wider turns.
The city of Nampa is working on an expansion to Ustick Road, now two lanes wide.
The expanded highway would have two traffic lanes in each direction, a turn lane in the middle, and U-turn “loons” that pop out from the side of the road to allow wider turns, as a white van is making in the middle this artist’s rendering.
New curbs, gutters and lighting would be added with a new signal at the intersection of Star and Ustick roads, according to the city. Ten-foot-wide pathways are also slated for the stretch for bikers and pedestrians.
Construction is expected to last about 18 months. The city expects the stretch to stay open for the majority of construction. Flaggers and short-term detours may be needed at some points, according to the city.
From west to east, Ustick Road runs from about a mile and a half northeast of Homedale and Highway 95, through Caldwell and a slice of northern Nampa, then through Meridian and Boise before ending in Garden City.
Ada County Highway District Commissioner Dave McKinney, right, examines construction plans for the Ustick Road, State Highway 16 expansion at Tuesday’s groundbreaking.
The project is part of the Idaho Transportation Department’s work to widen and expand State Highway 16, which runs north between Star and Eagle to Emmett, in Gem County.
ITD is building a signalized intersection between Highway 16 and Ustick Road, widening the intersection to make room for turn lanes. It also will realign McDermott Road east of the intersection, according to ITD.
“In the future, ITD will expand the signalized intersection at Ustick Road to a tight diamond interchange,” according to the department’s project website. A tight diamond interchange has two closely spaced intersections where on- and off-ramps meet the street.
The Idaho Transportation Department plans to expand what is now a signalized intersection at Ustick Road into a tight diamond interchange with the extended Highway 16, as shown in this rendering.
“ITD is working to advance construction of this interchange as quickly as possible.”
More construction for road widenings is expected in 2025 from Black Cat to Ten Mile roads and in 2027 from Black Cat Road to Owyhee Storm Avenue, according to the city.
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