Road construction prompts month long closure of busy Idaho Falls intersection
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IDAHO FALLS — Construction of a roundabout at the intersection of South Boulevard and Elm Street has prompted contractors to close this section of road beginning Aug 1.
City officials say construction should take around a month to complete before the road is opened again.
“The contractor has been able to get quite a bit done the last couple weeks,” said Idaho Falls city engineer Kent Fugal. “But he is now ready to go ahead and close the intersection to get a lot of the major work done.”
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He told EastIdahoNews.com closure of the intersection is necessary so expedited completion of the project can occur.
“With the roundabout itself there is a lot that needs to be done that takes time and that are very, very difficult to do with traffic flowing through the intersection,” Fugal said.
Businesses like Common Cents and the YMCA will still be accessible throughout the duration of the project.
Placing a roundabout at the location was proposed to improve safety to both motorists and pedestrians.
“There is a misconception out there that roundabouts are dangerous and there are a lot of crashes. The statistics just don’t bear that out. Roundabouts do have fewer crashes than other types of intersections – especially fewer serious crashes that involve fatalities and serious injuries,” Fugal said.
He said the geometry of the intersection made it a great candidate for installing a roundabout.