By Mayor Tammy
It seems like just yesterday that our community came out to celebrate the ground breaking of the 10 Mile Interchange. Now here we are nearly two years later, ahead of schedule and under budget, celebrating the opening of this great project for our community.
I’m pleased to announce that the interchange officially open for use today providing much needed access between Nampa and Meridian. With this access it is anticipated that it will also reduce some of the traffic congestion that occurs on both Eagle and Meridian Roads. This project would not have happened without the hard work and dedication of many in our community. My thanks to the Governor, Legislators and community members who helped make this project a reality. I’d also like to thank our patient citizens who dealt with road closures and construction inconveniences that were necessary for this project to occur. Our short term inconveniences will lead to long term benefits both in transportation as well as job creation.
While newly opened, this project has been over 30 years in the making. In order to make the interchange a success, the City did a lot of coordinating with the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) and Connecting Idaho Partners (CIP) on this project. Some of the elements the City advocated for, and worked with ITD and CIP to ensure were part of the project, include:
- Landscaping – Federal grant money was used to fund the cost for the materials, but City and ITD staff coordinated the design and construction of landscaping around the on and off ramps and center median islands.
- Reclaimed water – Essentially recycled water used to irrigate the landscaped areas around the interchange just mentioned. This resource will also help in business attraction.
- Stamped concrete – The City worked with ITD to select concrete retaining walls in this new entry to our community.
These elements help to make the interchange not just a good project for cars, but also aesthetically pleasing for all users in the interchange area without excess cost. This is just another example of how the Ten Mile Interchange will stand apart from other interchange areas in the State. The overall result of this project will benefit the area, residents, our economy, and the community as a whole. It also incorporates the elements of the Ten Mile Interchange Specific Area Plan to provide a mix of land uses and transportation elements that has not been built anywhere else in southwest Idaho.
I’m proud and excited to see this project come to completion and look forward to utilizing the interchange in the coming days and weeks. With the 10 Mile Interchange complete we now need to focus our attention to rebuilding the Meridian Road Interchange. I look forward to engaging with state and local leaders to assure this project is a top priority. Do you want to know how you can help make the Meridian Road Interchange a priority? If so, I want to hear from you. Email me at MayorTammy@meridiancity.org and together we can celebrate Meridian as the premier place to live, work and raise a family.