Idaho Falls Residents, Leaders Celebrate Completion of Pancheri Drive Project
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IDAHO FALLS – Residents and city leaders gathered Friday morning for a ribbon cutting to celebrate the completion of the Pancheri Drive project on the west side of Idaho Falls.
Construction on the $3.5 million dollar expansion began in June and included widening Pancheri to five lanes with curbs, gutters, sidewalks and landscaping.
A shared use path and three pedestrian-activated signal lights have also been installed to help pedestrians trying to get between Eagle Rock Junior High School and Skyline High School.
Residents will now have a complete pedestrian and bike pathway that will connect them to downtown and the Idaho Falls Greenbelt.
“The bike paths will be really good for the kids going to school,” said resident Lyle Taggart. “There’s so many kids that come and go down this street and it will bring safety and fun for them.”
The design work was completed by the city in 2014 and construction was to supposed to occur last summer, but the expansion was temporarily placed on hold due to a funding gap from the Federal Highway Trust Fund.
“I’m just excited, as a west side resident myself, to see this kind of progress,” said Idaho Falls Mayor Rebecca Casper. “I’m excited to see clean sidewalks and gutters and just the basic infrastructure.”