The Benton Street overpass will receive improvements via the $8.5 million Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Grant Pocatello was awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The Benton Street overpass will receive improvements via the $8.5 million Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Grant Pocatello was awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
POCATELLO — In an effort to improve infrastructure, community connectivity, mobility, general access and economic development, the U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded the city of Pocatello $8.5 million through the Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Grant.
In what has been named the Terry First Connection project, the endeavor will improve connections between core neighborhoods by providing safer bicycle and pedestrian access across the Union Pacific Railroad area via Benton Street overpass.
By redesigning the lane configuration used at the Benton Street overpass, the project will maximize driving lanes, improve pedestrian spaces and create a designated buffered bicycle lane that connects the city’s warehouse and university districts with Historic Downtown Pocatello.
The new project was based off a 2018 report completed by city staff in conjunction with Community Builders and Team Better Block. The project tested possible area improvements along East Terry Street and South First Avenue corridor that included a limitless bicycle lane, parklets, landscaping, parking, curb extensions and murals.
According to a press release from the city of Pocatello, “The report resulted in recommendations that were incorporated into concept designs completed by Utah State University. This report and these plans served as the base for the Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Grant application.”
A rendering of what South First Avenue in Pocatello will look like as a result of the Terry First Connection project.
City of Pocatello Image
When awarding the money, the Department of Transportation prioritized projects that mitigated the effects of infrastructure that interrupted connections between neighborhoods such as the railroad bisecting the east-west connection in Pocatello. The Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Grant has awarded $3.3 billion in projects to 132 communities.
The Terry First Connection project will include the following changes and improvements:
— Installation of a traffic signal at East Benton Street and South Second Avenue.
— An updated signal with a new intersection configuration at West Benton Street and South Main Street.
— Updates to all street markings to create approximately one mile of designated, bidirectional bicycle lanes along East Terry Street and South First Avenue.
— A buffered, multimodal path on the Benton Street overpass.
— An Expanded sidewalk on South First Avenue from Benton Street to East Terry Street.
— Updated street lighting at the intersections of Terry Street and South Fifth and Fourth avenues.
— Installation of vegetated planters along both sides of South First Avenue and Terry Street, with green infrastructure for stormwater drainage.
Construction on the Terry First Connection project will begin in spring 2026 with completion expected in fall 2027, city officials said.
Support for this project came from a multitude of partners that include Idaho State University and the local Elks Lodge.
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