CALDWELL, Idaho — If you’ve driven Highway 20/26 near Midland Boulevard, you know how busy the corridor in Canyon County can get. That traffic is expected to increase, with a new WinCo Foods planned for one of Caldwell’s fastest-growing areas.
“A very huge deal,” said Steven Jenkins, the city of Caldwell’s economic development director, about the incoming development.
Watch: Learn more about the future project
The project has been years in the making. WinCo purchased 35 acres of land that was once an onion farm along Highway 20/26, where the city says continued growth is already underway.
“The city is planning to build some infrastructure along this corridor to help support not only their development, but future development that we anticipate seeing," said Jenkins. "So we have some water and sewer plans that continue throughout 20/26 that will meet them at their site and help them advance their goals and objectives in building their store.”
The planned 84,000-square-foot grocery store is expected to create about 100 jobs, something city leaders say has long been a priority for the community.
Just down the road, local business owners say the development brings opportunity.
“I think there's a lot to learn from the growing area and different people that are coming in,” said Aundrea Rivera, the daughter of the owner of Covey Cafe.
The family-owned restaurant was hit hard by major road construction in 2022, when lanes along the corridor expanded from one to six. Owner Jose Rivera said the challenges forced his family to adapt quickly.
“So really it was going pretty good, and we were kind of learning the ropes. It was an established business, so my cousin's only advice was: 'If it's not broken, don't try to fix it.' So we really went with that. Well then, construction hit, and the lanes went from 1 lane to 6 lanes, 3 each way, a median," Rivera explained, adding that the construction took longer than what they had originally planned for.
With reduced staffing and fewer customers, Rivera said his family stepped in to keep the business afloat.
“I learned how to cook, my daughter learned how to waitress, my other daughter learned how to do everything, and we kind of just went with it and made it work,” Rivera said.
Now, as more development moves into the area, the family says business is slowly picking up.
“I've been here since I was a kid, and now seeing this whole community grow around it where people can come and see us and meet us and we are able to meet them,” said Arienna Rivera, another daughter of the cafe’s owner.
Rivera said the growth brings new challenges, but ones the family is ready to face.
City officials have not announced a construction start date for the WinCo store, but say infrastructure work along the corridor is expected to continue through 2026.
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