The new SH-16 freeway won't be finished until 2027, so why is the Idaho Transportation Department starting to tear up State Street in Star now?
ITD's answer is printed in its own project FAQ. The timing of the "SH-44 Widening: SH-16 to Star Road" project was "timed to prevent a bottle neck through Star upon completion of the adjacent interchange project." ITD is building this stretch now so that the day SH-16 opens as a freeway, a two-lane highway isn't waiting to take all that traffic.
If you live in River Park Estates, that matters more than the orange barrels. The neighborhood sits south of W. State Street at the south end of Blessinger Road, with its access coming off Blessinger. Any trip east toward SH-16 on State Street takes you through the segment ITD is rebuilding over the next year.
Why the widening waits on the interchange
Start with what SH-16 becomes. When it's done, ITD says SH-16 will be a limited-access freeway from I-84 to SH-44. Drivers will only get on and off at interchanges at I-84, Franklin Road, Ustick Road, US-20/26 and SH-44. At the north end, the SH-16/SH-44 interchange will connect SH-44 to SH-16 while SH-16 traffic runs freely over SH-44.
West of the interchange, State Street was the last stretch in the area still waiting to be widened. ITD's October 14 release calls this project "the final section of SH-44 in the area to be widened," and it will connect to the interchange construction already underway.
So the two projects are on one schedule. ITD's FAQ says the widening is projected to be done in fall/winter 2027, and "the opening will coincide with the State Highway 16 and State Highway 44 Interchange opening." Separately, the October 15, 2026 SH-16 monthly newsletter put the I-84-to-SH-44 corridor at 60% complete and said it is expected to open in mid-2027. The widening's own target is the later fall/winter 2027 window, and that later date is the one ITD ties to the interchange's opening.
If the intersection at SH-16 and State Street already looks different to you, it is. In mid-August, ITD moved SH-16 traffic onto the new on- and off-ramps and shifted the SH-16/SH-44 intersection east to line up with them. That was a temporary layout. In an ITD news release, Resident Engineer Styles Salek said the shift would "allow crews to begin construction on the future interchange bridge going over State Highway 44." The finished interchange, with SH-16 passing over State Street, is still to come.
The stretch ITD is rebuilding
The widening starts near Moyle Avenue, where the interchange work already widened SH-44, and runs west to Star Road. According to the ITD project page, that segment is getting:
- Five lanes: two travel lanes each way plus a center turn lane
- A full replacement of the road surface
- Connected pedestrian pathway along the south side of the highway
- Relocated utilities
The project FAQ also lists new pedestrian ramps built to ADA requirements.
The south-side walking route is only part of the plan. ITD classifies this section as rural and designed it to that standard, and a separate project now in development would add a 10- to 12-foot multi-use pathway on the south side of State Highway 44 for both pedestrians and cyclists. The pathway pieces going in now are meant to connect to that future path.
Both jobs have the same contractor. ITD says Knife River Construction is running the widening and the SH-16/SH-44 interchange project, "allowing for smooth communication between both teams." One crew handling both ends of the connection is how the matched opening dates are supposed to hold. The project is federally funded through advanced construction funding.
How the work is staged
ITD's goal is to keep SH-44 open for the whole project, so the road gets rebuilt in phases. This is the sequence from the display boards ITD showed at its October 22 drop-in meeting:
| Stage | What crews do |
|---|---|
| Initial phase | Relocate power lines, underground utilities and irrigation |
| Phases 1 and 2 | Remove existing asphalt and place new asphalt |
| Phase 3 | Lay temporary pavement to shift traffic and open a work zone |
| Phases 4 and 5 | Widen the roadway using CRABS, then pave |
| ADA ramps | Replace pedestrian ramps in some areas |
CRABS is short for Cement Recycled Asphalt Base Stabilization. Crews grind up the old road surface, mix in cement, and use that as the new road base before laying fresh asphalt on top. The existing road gets reused as the foundation for the wider one.
The calendar is what ties those phases to your daily drive. ITD's timeline has three stages:
- Fall 2026: Utility and paving work begins, as weather permits
- Spring 2027: Widening and paving operations continue
- Fall/winter 2027: Construction complete
The October 14 release says initial work starts this fall and "most work" starts next spring. The display boards add that fall work depends on the weather. With November here, the next few months will probably bring utility relocation and early paving as conditions allow. The big lane shifts and the widening itself are spring 2027 work.
What the drive along State Street looks like until then
ITD has put the ground rules in writing. No full closures of State Highway 44 are expected. During the day, at least one lane stays open in each direction. Partial lane closures will happen mostly at night, with flaggers directing traffic.
Expect these trade-offs:
- Traffic patterns will shift as each phase moves the lanes around
- Night work will bring equipment noise and backup alarms
- Turns may be restricted. ITD says businesses and local roads stay open, "however your route may change during construction due to restricted turning movements"
The turn restrictions will probably affect you the most day to day. A left turn into a shop or a side street that you make by habit could be blocked for part of a phase, sending you down the block to turn around or onto a parallel street. Since ITD only promises that access stays open, plan on driving a different route to the same place now and then, especially once the spring work starts.
ITD's own descriptions of the overall impact vary. The FAQ on the project page calls them "minor traffic impacts," with "occasional nighttime work." The display boards say "some nighttime work is expected." Either way, most of the work happens in daylight, and the night shifts are when the lane closures happen.
Staying ahead of the lane shifts
ITD held its first drop-in meeting on October 22 at Liberty Hall, 960 S. Main St. in Star, and its project page says more meetings will be held in 2027. If you missed it, the display boards from that meeting are posted online and include the project map from Moyle Avenue to Star Road.
To get updates before a phase change shows up on your morning drive, ITD offers three options for the widening:
- Text 44WIDENING to 1-866-483-8422
- Email [email protected]
- Call 208-261-2443
The interchange project has its own alert list. Text HIGHWAY16 to 1-866-483-8422, or follow the SH-16 construction page. The SH-16 corridor is still an active construction zone, and ITD's October newsletter says using it before it's finished is unsafe and not permitted.
If you want both sets of alerts, sign up for each one. They come from two separate jobs: the interchange is scheduled to open in 2027, and the widening is scheduled to open alongside it so the extra freeway traffic doesn't back up on State Street into Star.
At The Shackelford Group, we're keeping an eye on the State Street and SH-16 work because it will change how west Star connects to the rest of the valley for years after the barrels are gone. If you're near Blessinger Road and wondering what a finished corridor could mean for your home's value, ask us for a home value estimate. We'll walk you through it in plain terms.
