Horseshoe Bend Residents Question Plan to Raise Highway 55 Speed Limit Through Downtown

A planned speed limit increase on Highway 55 through Horseshoe Bend is drawing resistance from some residents, even as state and city officials say the change is aimed at safety and traffic flow.

The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) intends to raise the limit on the roughly half-mile downtown stretch from 25 mph to 35 mph outside of school hours. During the morning and afternoon school commute periods, the lower limit would stay in place.

The work also includes a new sidewalk on the east side of the highway, drainage improvements and a pedestrian hybrid beacon near the school, which pedestrians can activate to stop traffic and cross safely. Construction is expected to start after Labor Day and finish this winter, with one lane generally staying open. The project is budgeted at about $1 million, with a current estimate of $700,000, which could leave room to extend the sidewalk farther.

ITD says the main reason for the change is the bottleneck that forms when vehicles slow to 25 mph in town, creating long backups on Highway 55. The agency says the area has become more popular as a place to live, work and play, putting significantly more vehicles on the road. ITD and the city have worked on the project together for about a year.

Heidi Price, owner of the Huckle & Sage cafe, which sits along the affected stretch, said she does not think the plan is a good idea. Her business operates on what is essentially school property, she said, with only a short segment between the school zone and the existing 35 mph zone. "I think the consensus in town is that it's not a great idea because so many students and kids walk," Price said.

Price said the town is only about a mile long and highly walkable, and that drivers already tend to go faster than the posted limit. She welcomed the additional sidewalk but said a single crossing beacon near the school is not enough, since people regularly cross near businesses and the subdivision. In her view, two or three more crossings would be needed. She also doubted the higher limit would ease congestion and said backed-up traffic could make it harder to enter and exit local businesses. As a parent, she said she would not be comfortable with her own children walking or biking along the road. "It's kind of like a neighborhood. You should just keep it 25," she said.

Mayor Patrick Goff, who grew up in Horseshoe Bend and walked Highway 55 to school as a child, said the issue came up during a wider meeting with ITD about the Rainbow Bridge and the traffic light at Banks Loman. He said ITD's reasoning rests on safety data: the Highway 55 corridor from Boise to McCall is the most dangerous stretch of highway in Idaho, and the 25 mph zones in Horseshoe Bend and Cascade are among the biggest contributors to the abrupt slowdowns that lead to crashes.

Goff said weekend traffic through town is already bumper to bumper regardless of the posted limit. "All we can try to do is keep it as safe as we possibly can," he said. He has suggested several ideas to ITD, including moving the 45 mph zone back around the corner before the storage units and dropping to 35 mph near the old Horseshoe Bend Highway to reduce road rage as drivers enter town. He also proposed metered entry lights, similar to freeway on-ramp signals in cities such as San Diego and Los Angeles, to help residents pull onto the highway on busy weekend days.

The mayor acknowledged the city has limited authority over a state highway. He said he may gather signatures from residents, though it "might make a difference, it might not." He urged frustrated neighbors to take part in person, attending public hearings and meetings rather than venting online so that the discussion does not become "us versus them."