ID 16 southern extention project-Boise?

[ARMOURERERIC]

K, so after 18 years in California, I am farm shopping.  I find I nice place in Everett ID, and look at all the various ways to get to Boise form there.  I see on Google a major project that looks to be a southward extension of ID 16 with 2 long river crossings.  Can someone tell me more about this?  Will this improvement somehow eventually get to I-84 via McDermott?

[corco]

I assume you mean Emmett, which is an absolutely gorgeous area. My aunt and uncle lived there for many years. My parents actually owned land there that we had planned to build a house on, but after my aunt and uncle passed away we decided to go to McCall instead. It's a nice place to live- low cost of living, beautiful valley (about 300 degress of mountains) stuff to do, not too far from Boise. I would advise keeping the fact that you're from CA on the down-low (get Idaho plates as soon as possible)- like many small towns in Idaho, it may take a while for the old-timers to warm up to the fact that there's another Californian living in their town, especially if you're moving onto land and not into a subdivision. A place like Emmett is especially tricky because it's slowly transitioning from being its own place to being a bedroom community for Boise, and the folks who have lived there a long time are none too happy about it.

Yes, there are long terms in place to extend it south to I-84, but for now it's only going to go to US 20/26. I was just over there a few weeks ago and it looks like the highway is just about ready to open. It'll be several years (I'd guess 10-15) before 16 is complete all the way down to I-84.



16 to 44 is probably the easiest way to get over, though we used to use Beacon Light Rd a lot. If you're headed west, 16 to 44 west is a fairly simple drive. I like the idea of the 16 extension, but it's mainly useful for Nampa->Emmett traffic- I suspect folks heading into the core of Boise will continue to use 44. Eagle Rd/55 is traffic light hell- I much prefer just using local roads to get down to the mall area of Boise from there than fighting my way down Eagle to the interstate. Probably takes about the same amount of time, but it's much more pleasant that way.

[ARMOURERERIC]

I may have CA tags, but I'll display my Tea Party bumper stickers on my 1992 Fleetwood Brougham and I propose to relocate my duck farm and medieval armour shop as part of this.  Place I am making a run at has 17 acres right on Idaho Blvd.

[ARMOURERERIC]

I got off my rear and did google, and yes, this is the first part of what is supposed to be a freeway in 15-20 years.  It will be full limited access from a high speed wye at 84 along/over top of Mc Demott with the last interchange being 20/26.  It will continue to 44 as an expressway.  This first section represents $80M of a $320M estimated total cost.