Paradise Ridge as viewed from ESE of Moscow; photo by D. Hall

Paradise Ridge Defense Coalition
Box 3344, Moscow, ID 83843-1910
paradise-ridge-defense.org

The Paradise Ridge Defense Coalition (PRDC) is a coalition of individuals and groups promoting preservation and protection of the wildlife and diverse ecosystems of Paradise Ridge. We are committed to protecting this special treasure for Moscow and the Palouse, and ensuring that a comprehensive analysis is conducted that fairly and objectively considers a wide range of alternatives for Highway 95 realignment & expansion south of Moscow.

U.S. Highway 95 Thorncreek Road to Moscow upgrade

"Work on stretch from Thorn Creek to Moscow won't start until 2012 at the earliest, project engineer says."

"But Helm [Ken Helm with the Idaho Department of Transportation (ITD) Region 2 office in Lewiston] added that slow, sure progress is being made. His department recently received the latest comments from the Federal Highway Administration on the environmental study and ITD hopes to respond by July 1 with a new draft environmental impact statement." ...

"ITD anticipates it will release the updated draft statement for public comment in the summer or fall next year [2010]. The public comment period will last 45 days and will include a formal public hearing, Helm said." ...

"Public comments will be reviewed and addressed, and the document will go to the Idaho Transportation Board for consideration. Then the board will send it to the feds [FHWA] for final approval of the study and one of the three proposed highway routes." ...

Widening of U.S. 95 faces more delays. Joel Mills. Lewiston Morning Tribune, June 4, 2009. p. 1C,4C

Idaho Transportation Department District 2 received comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Study (DEIS) in early April 2009 from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). District personnel have reviewed the comments and are currently trying to schedule a meeting with FHWA sometime in May to discuss the comments. Once the District determines what actions are required they will be revising the DEIS and submitting it for the Legal Sufficiency Review by FHWA. The District anticipates completing all reviews sometime this fall.
[personal communication from Ken Helms, April 15, 2009]


The Draft Environmental Impact Statement was scheduled to be sent from ITD to the Federal Highway Administration in May 2007. However, during a multi-agency meeting about the project, there was controvercy about mitigation plans. ITD headquarters decided not to forward the DEIS on to FHWA until another study is done, with a "peer review." That study is expected to take about six months.

Attend the last monthly ITD BREAKFAST MEETING this Tuesday, June 12, 2007 7 to 8am, at the Sandpiper Grill (Mark IV), North Main Street, Moscow.

July 12, 13 & 19, 2006 noon to 7pm
Idaho Transportation Department meeting
open to the public

COMMUNITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) is conducting a community impact assessment for the U.S. 95 Thorncreek Road to Moscow project. The assessment will identify the potential impacts of the three proposed alternatives/alignments (W4, C3 and E2) for US95 south of Moscow on the following:
  • Economics
  • Land use
  • Public services
  • Recreation
  • Safety
You are invited to give input into this assessment by completing a written questionnaire or participating in an interview. If you are interested come to the Eastside Marketplace off the Troy Highway between noon and 7 p.m. on July 12, 13 and 14.

Please allow 30 minutes to fill out the survey or be interviewed.

For those of you who have attended other ITD hearings and meetings at the Eastside Marketplace in the past, please note that this meeting will be held in the old pet store area, not the old Sears store area.

To see a map of the three alternatives/alignments approved by FHWA, the document ITD submitted to FHWA, and FHWA's response, go to www.itd.idaho.gov, go to "Get Involved," choose "North-Central Idaho," click on "US 95 Thorncreek to Moscow, Stage 1."
January 18 & 19, 2006
Idaho Transportation Department had an open house Wednesday, January 18, and Thursday, January 19, 2006, (3-8pm each day) at Eastside Marketplace in Moscow at which they will present results from the just-completed environmental reports covering the project area. This is your chance to comment on the environemntal studies, and help ITD narrow the 10 route placements to the several they move forward. The environmental reports are posted on the ITD website, and the authors of most of reports are expected to be at the open house to answer questions.

The environmental reports are on the ITD website.

Read what they came up with, tell them "NO EASTERN ALIGNMENTS," and ask for a a good NON-DIVIDED HIGHWAY DESIGN WITH PASSING AND TURNING LANES. An EIS is supposed to provide a wide range of alternatives, but all of their alternatives are 4-lane divided behemoths. E-mail your comments by February 3, 2006.
September 19, 2003
Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled in favor of Paradise Ridge Defense Coalition et al. in Boise, saying that the Idaho Transportation Department must prepare a full Environmental Impact Statement for the "Top of Lewiston Hill to Moscow" project.
Read the judicial decision (11 Page 233 KB PDF file)
U.S. Courts, District of Idaho, Docket Sheet for 1:3-CV-156 USDC Idaho

Links to other local resources
Paradise Ridge as viewed from ESE of Moscow; photos by David Hall