Will Silverwood get a light?

[voodoobones]

Well I gave you all a chance to be the first post of 2012 and none of you took it. Here's to me! Now on to Silverwood!

For me, driving to Silverwood is not a problem since I come from the south. But when leaving I have to cross all the lanes on the highway to head south to get home. Do you think Silverwood will ever get a light installed to make it safer for entering and exiting the highway?

Here is to a fun and safe 2012!

[selkirks]

ITD and Silverwood are partnering on a project to build an interchange for the theme park. It's part of the US-95 Garwood to Sagle project, which is expanding the highway to two lanes divided in each direction. Work has begun already, and while I don't know when the interchange specifically will be finished, the whole of Garwood to Sagle should be complete by July of 2013.

[Bud Parsley]

^Good to know. Figured it was only a matter of time. Silverwood keeps growing and having these record-breaking seasons year after year. Eventually something will be done.

[voodoobones]

Thanks Selkirks. I can't wait for the interchange. It will make it so much easier at the end of the night to head home and will make me feel a lot safer. Because, well, it's all about me.

[Nuttyguy]

I saw some blue prints on some state website a few years back showing different proposed interchanges. I believe the most likely one involved a 4 lane hwy 95 being moved to go behind (east of) the current main parking lot and RV park, with an interchange down by bunco rd (The small dirt road by Timber Terror) to access the park and other houses in the area.

This was years ago, so I have no idea if it was approved or not. I check around on some id state dot sites.

EDIT: This site is all I can find now. It has a small overview of what the plans are.
itd.idaho.gov/Projects/garvee/D1/US95GarwoodtoSagleCorridor/US95_Garwood_Sagle_SilverwoodArea.asp

[selkirks]

There is some truth to that statement. Here's how it will work, from my understanding. While I haven't seen the specific plans, I've been talking with some people deeply involved with the project.

US-95 will retain its current location, but it will be expanded to four lanes--two in each direction, divided. Because the expansion cannot take place on both sides of the road (the coasters and attractions are relatively close to US-95 on the west side), the majority is being taken up on the east side of the highway. Currently work is being done to expand the pedestrian tunnel to include all four eventual lanes. There will also be a frontage road on the east side of the highway running for nearly the length of the Garwood to Sagle project.

Entering the park heading southbound, there will be some sort of interchange--potentially an exit and a bridge over the highway. Entering the park heading northbound, there will be an exit for Silverwood. The exit will wrap around to the east of the current parking lot, which will be rebuilt by ITD. (Perhaps an opportunity for the park to ditch their ludicrous parking fees?)

Exiting the park heading southbound, there will be some sort of interchange--again, I don't totally understand how that will work. It could be a bridge over the highway/freeway and then an on-ramp. Heading northbound there will be an on-ramp.

There are currently several bridges/overpasses under construction along the length of the Garwood to Sagle project. One is directly south of the Silverwood project, near the power lines.

This is what I know currently--based off of observations and various information heard from a few sources. I'm obviously not 100% sure of the project--unlike WSDOT, ITD is particularly vague with their online project information. But I do know for sure that this is an interchange project that will, from my understanding, involve two exits and two on-ramps, a bridge or two, etc.

[Bowl300NK]

They should get brighter lights for the lines to get on the wooden roller coasters, Aftershock, and Corkscrew. They should also bring lights to use for night swim at Boulder Beach WP, so they can close like an hour prior to Silverwood's closing time.