GRANGEVILLE - Idaho County is slated for more than $6 million in three road construction projects, all of which are expected to begin this month.

Jim Carpenter and Pat Lightfield of the Idaho Transportation Department at Lewiston met with the Idaho County Commissioners Tuesday to outline the projects scheduled to begin next week and continue through the summer.

The first is a deck overlay on the south bridge near McKenzie Creek on U.S. Highway 95 south of White Bird. A layer of asphalt will be added to smooth the bridge deck. That project will start Monday and is scheduled to last about 55 working days, Carpenter said. It will cost about $1 million.

The second overlay project, planned to start in June, will upgrade U.S. Highway 95 from Grangeville north to the concrete section of the highway between Fenn and Cottonwood. The last time that part of the road was upgraded was in 1994, Carpenter said. It will cost $2.7 million.

The third project has not yet been put out for bid, but is expected to be completed during the summer. That is a $3.1 million overlay project on State Highway 13 from the Kooskia city limits south to Howard Creek, about seven miles.

Road remodeling projects for fiscal year 2012, Carpenter said, will include work on State Highway 162 from the four corners east toward Thorn Springs Road, a distance of about seven miles. That will be a major project that is expected to cost about $6.4 million. Also scheduled for that year will be to add turn bays along U.S. Highway 95 at Jentges Road, north of Cottonwood. That section of the highway has been determined by the transportation department to be a dangerous intersection, Carpenter said.

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Hedberg may be contacted at khedberg@camasnet.com or (208) 983-2326.