09/07/09

As cities and towns grow, sometimes new roads are laid out in less than ideal alignments; Twin Falls has a chance to correct one of those intersections.

If you've tried to drive on Heyburn Avenue where it crosses Washington Street North, it's easy to feel like you're taking your life into your own hands. Right now the lanes east and west of Washington don't line up, but that situation looks like it will only be temporary.

Jackie Fields, Twin Falls City Engineer says, “Heyburn Avenue is what you call an offset intersection, so when you get into the intersection, you could be looking at the headlights of a car in the opposing lane, and that's pretty uncomfortable.

Fields says Rediesel Engineering redesigned this intersection. Those plans call for curving the east side of Heyburn slightly to the north - and the west side slightly to the south. A good chunk of this southwestern corner would be rounded off to make the alignment more manageable.

Fields says, “It's a wonderful opportunity. This whole road construction is a good opportunity. We'll get sidewalks, we'll have some corrections on intersections, and we'll have brand new pavement.”

Fields says the Heyburn Avenue intersection realignment, along with the Washington Street North widening project, will result in greatly improved pavement that should last 20 years, as well as some much needed sidewalks in this area.