NAMPA, Idaho — A section of Northside Boulevard in Nampa could see major safety and traffic flow improvements as city officials seek public input on three proposed options for the corridor.
The announcement comes after a water main break completely closed a portion of Northside Boulevard over the holiday weekend, highlighting infrastructure challenges in the area.
The Wislers have lived at the intersection for a year and a half, and they told me they toured the house at different times of day to check noise levels from the living room before they made an offer.
"But I wasn't aware of how many semis, motorcycles, cars with souped up mufflers. And the fact, I'm amazed at how many people have to peel out every time they take off or you know, in the rain, sliding around the corners. That was a little bit of a shock to me," said Jimmie Wisler, who lives at the corner of 7th Street and 7th Avenue with his wife Sheryl.
WATCH: Nampa residents share experiences living near busy four-way stop
The City of Nampa has identified the corridor as a problem area, with data showing 305 crashes from 2020 to 2024 and 81% of those accidents occurred at intersections along the route.
"So the day we moved in, there was an accident. Senior citizen age lady, probably closer to in her eighties got hit and ended up right here on the very first day, she was okay. But it's like, wow, that's, you know, welcome to the neighborhood," said Wisler.
All three proposed alternatives would add a traffic light at the 7th Street and 7th Avenue intersection, which is currently a four-way stop. All the plans also include ADA compliance improvements and adding a median to a curve where Yale turns into 7th that would restrict some left turns.
The proposals range in price from $5.7 million to $8.1 million and would include sidewalk improvements throughout the corridor.
Meanwhile, Northside Boulevard received some unexpected attention over the Fourth of July weekend after several quarter-sized holes in nearly 60-year-old cast iron water mains forced the closure of this important thoroughfare.
"Really proud of our city, really proud of our city water streets, water renewal employees who came out and helped get this done. Also working with two contractors that came out last minute was super helpful," said Jeff Barnes, Director of Water Resources for Nampa.
Residents experienced intermittent water outages as crews worked on a tight deadline to repair the infrastructure and reopen the road for holiday travelers.
"We have on-call folks available all the time. So our crews came in immediately," Barnes said.
