EAGLE, Idaho — Months after Idaho News 6's first report in November, construction along Linder Road in Eagle is still in full swing — and some neighbors say the constant detours and school traffic are pushing them to the limit.
Don Hudson has lived in Eagle for 11 years. His home sits along Linder Road in North Eagle, right in the middle of the construction zone.
"It's causing us to do things differently, but we're getting by," Hudson said.
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Hudson said with three schools nearby, traffic often backs up when parents and grandparents arrive early to drop off and pick up their kids.
"They park in front of our driveways and our mailboxes and everything because they have to line up waiting for the kids to get out of school," Hudson said.
"It can be a problem if you need to get out of the house right away to go someplace," Hudson said.
Safety is also a concern for Hudson, especially during the lunch hour when high schoolers leave campus to grab food and speed back before class starts.
"They put in bumps, and they put in stop signs in the development, but no one pays any attention to that," Hudson said.
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The project includes widening Linder Road between Highway 44 and Floating Feather from three lanes to five lanes — two lanes in each direction with a center turn lane — as well as adding landscaped medians and a multi-use path.
EJ Vitta, a project manager with the Ada County Highway District (ACHD), said the current hard closure at one of the bridges on Linder Road will lift around May 8, allowing local traffic to pass through. However, the intersection at Floating Feather will then be closed from mid-May to mid-October to install a roundabout.
During the roundabout construction, the primary detours will be Park Lane and Highway 16. Drivers coming from the north near Beacon Light Road will also need to detour around to Park Lane.
"It's hard to stop growth from coming to Ada County, so the only way you can deal with it is try to make sure that the roads can accommodate," Vitta said.
Vitta said ACHD is in regular contact with schools, HOA leaders, neighbors, and emergency crews to keep everyone updated. He noted that ACHD meets at least once a month with the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) and its own development department to coordinate surrounding projects and ensure traffic control measures don't overlap too much at once.
Hudson praised ACHD's communication, noting they held a meeting at the school across the street at the beginning of the project to explain the timeline and scope of the work. He said they are "handling it the best they can."
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Hudson is also optimistic about the upcoming roundabout, noting that the goal is to speed up traffic flow because cars won't have to come to a complete stop and wait for each other.
"As long as the public can understand, once a lot of these projects get finished out and we start moving on to the next, overall, in the long run it's going to work out for the better," Vitta said.
Hudson reflected on the rapid growth in Eagle over the last 11 years, noting that the wide-open spaces, cattle, and horses that were there when he moved in have been replaced by housing developments.
"I don't know where our food's gonna come from because all the animals seem to have gone away," Hudson joked, adding that every open space now has an "available" sign on it.
Despite the growing pains, Hudson said the community is trying to cope. He praised the local fire department for being "good neighbors" during the construction, noting that firefighters try not to turn their sirens on in the middle of the night until they reach the main road to avoid disturbing residents.
Hudson is trying to take the long view on the construction.
"I think we're just having fun... waiting for it all to get better next spring," Hudson said.
