HAUSER, Idaho — Idaho and Washington drivers will see delays on US Highway 53 near Hauser starting next week.
According to the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD), drivers will see speed limits reduced on Highway 53 starting Monday, Aug. 22, from the Washington state line to Rathdrum, as crews work on the highway to add a center left turn lane. Two lanes will remain open through construction.
"The goal of this project and future ones is to make the highway safer by providing turn lanes for drivers,” Megan Koski, project manager, said in a statement. “Drivers won’t have to be worried about being rear-ended as they wait to turn left off the highway.”
During the construction, right turn lanes and lighting will be installed at the intersections of McGuire Road, North Church Road, Bruss Road, and Hauser Lake Road. An acceleration lane at Cloverleaf Road will help drivers get up to speed and merge with eastbound traffic.
ITD announced this project is the first of several projects for most of Highway 53 from the Washington state line to Rathdrum. Work over the next two years will focus on a two-mile stretch starting near McGuire Road and continuing through Bruss Road, with additional safety improvements included at the Hauser Lake Road intersection.
Highway 53 is used by more than 12,000 drivers who commute daily between Washington and Idaho.
“This year, crews will add temporary pavement to the south so that we can maintain traffic as we build the base for the expanded road on the north side of the highway,” Koski said. “Then next spring we’ll pave over that base and open the new lane to traffic.”
Other similar projects are scheduled near Rathdrum in 2023 and the state line in 2027. A maintenance project will be taking place in late September to resurface patches within the first two miles near the state line at night to keep it in acceptable conditions until the 2027 project.
For more road conditions visit the ITD live traffic map here.
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