Funding and environmental impact are two issues concerning the Nez Perce Tribe’s plans to build an interchange on U.S. Highway 95/12, at the entrance to the tribe’s Clearwater River Casino, three miles east of Lewiston, Idaho.
Nez Perce Transportation Planner Mary Beth Frank said paying for the $14 million project has been the biggest issue. “We keep searching for grants that will provide that large of an amount. That’s where the challenge will be,” she said.
Additionally, the project calls for widening the highway to allow for an on-ramp. That would require vegetation removal from the edge of the waterfowl nesting habitat in the Upper Goose Pasture next to the site.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokeswoman Gina Baltrusch said the project would require building a new access road to the habitat management unit with safe highway access, and protecting the Canada goose nesting site. “It is highly used by waterfowl, and the birds are disturbed by noise while nesting,” Baltrusch said.
The project has been on hold since the Nez Perce tribe was unable to secure a federal highway grant following an environmental assessment. Frank said a new environmental impact study is being conducted and will be ready for public comment by December.
