HORSESHOE BEND — A speed limit change is coming to Highway 55 through Horseshoe Bend — but not everyone in town is on board.
ITD plans to raise the current 25 mph zone — which spans approximately half a mile through downtown Horseshoe Bend — to 35 mph outside of school hours. During morning and afternoon school commute times, the speed limit would remain reduced.
The project also includes a new sidewalk on the east side of the highway, drainage improvements and a pedestrian hybrid beacon near the school that pedestrians can activate to stop traffic and safely cross. Construction is expected to begin after Labor Day and wrap up this winter, with one lane expected to remain open most of the time during the project.
The total project budget is approximately $1 million, with a current estimate of $700,000, leaving potential room to extend the sidewalk further.
ITD said the primary reason for the speed limit change is to reduce the bottleneck that forms when traffic slows to 25 mph through town, which causes extensive backups on Highway 55. The agency said the area has become increasingly popular to live, work, and play, putting significantly more traffic on the road. ITD and the city have been collaborating on the project for about a year.
Heidi Price, owner of Huckle & Sage — a small cafe in Horseshoe Bend known for its huckleberry ice cream, breakfast, lunch, coffee, gifts, groceries, and local items — has a front-row view of traffic moving through downtown every day. Her business sits along the stretch of road in question.
When she first heard about the change, Price said her initial reaction was curiosity about exactly which segment would be affected — noting that her store sits within what is essentially school property, with only a short segment between the school zone and the existing 35 mph zone.
She said her concern grew from there.
"I think the consensus in town is that it's not a great idea because so many students and kids walk," Price said.
She said the town's small size and walkable character make a higher speed limit feel out of place — and that drivers already exceed the current limit.
"The town is only one mile long, so most people walk here and there, and raising it to 35 is a little bit fast, mostly because people already do 30 about, they're already kind of speeding through town," Price said.
On the proposed sidewalk and crossing improvements, Price said the second sidewalk is a welcome addition — but said one crossing beacon near the school is not enough.
She noted that people regularly cross at other points along the road, including near the businesses and the subdivision, and that two or three additional crossings would be needed to actually address pedestrian safety.
She also said she does not believe the speed limit increase will solve the congestion problem ITD is trying to address.
"I don't think it's gonna help with traffic. I know that's kind of their idea because the traffic does get congested in here, but raising it 10 miles an hour, I don't think it's gonna help, and it's gonna make it more difficult for people to get in and out of the businesses if the traffic's backed up pulling in and out," Price said.
As a parent, Price said she would not feel comfortable with her own children biking or walking along the road, even with the new sidewalks in place.
"There's kids biking, walking, and skateboarding and stuff through town, and it's just a little fast," Price said. "It's kind of like a neighborhood. You should just keep it 25."
Mayor Patrick Goff, who grew up in Horseshoe Bend and walked Highway 55 to school as a child, said the speed limit change came up during a broader meeting with ITD about the Rainbow Bridge and the traffic light at Banks Loman. He said ITD's reasoning is rooted in safety data — noting that Highway 55 from Boise to McCall is the most dangerous stretch of highway in Idaho, and that the 25 mph zones in Horseshoe Bend and Cascade are among the biggest contributors to the abrupt slowdowns that cause accidents.
He said on weekends, traffic through town is already bumper to bumper regardless of the posted limit.
"Whether it's 35, whether it's 45, whether it's 55, whether it's 15 or 10, it's gonna be bumper to bumper," Goff said. "All we can try to do is keep it as safe as we possibly can."
Goff said he has proposed several ideas to ITD to help manage traffic flow, including moving the 45 mph zone back around the corner before the storage units and dropping to 35 near the old Horseshoe Bend Highway to reduce road rage as drivers enter town. He also suggested metered entry lights — similar to freeway on-ramp signals used in cities like San Diego and Los Angeles — to help residents safely pull onto Highway 55 on busy weekend days.
He said he understands the frustration but wants neighbors to know he is fighting for them — while also being realistic about the limits of the city's authority over a state highway.
"I can go, and I can complain, and we can talk about it, and we can get a lot of people and get a lot of signatures, which I probably will do, and it might make a difference, it might not," Goff said.
His message to neighbors who are frustrated: put down the keyboard and show up.
"We need to be more face-to-face and open and come to the public hearings and come to the meetings and let's talk about things and let's see if we can discuss things and have the better, you know, instead of it's just us versus them," Goff said.
