Downtown Star's Highway 44 Widening Survived the State Cuts and Starts This Fall

Through the middle of Star, State Street narrows to three lanes: one each way plus a center turn lane. ITD has widened SH-44 on the Eagle side in recent years, and the interchange at SH-16 is going in east of town. Downtown has stayed at three lanes. Mayor Trevor Chadwick told KIVI in June that more than 25,000 vehicle trips a day use that stretch, and that the backups reach "all the way back to Canyon County and all the way past Highway 16."

That three-lane stretch is next. The Idaho Transportation Department plans to widen State Highway 44 to five lanes between Star Road and SH-16, with two through lanes each way, a center turn lane, a new road surface and connected pathways along the south side. ITD lists completion for fall/winter 2027.

The project also kept its funding in a year when Idaho cut transportation spending, and most of the other big road jobs planned around Star lost theirs. That sets up the next few years of driving here. Downtown State Street is the piece that gets fixed. The roads that would take pressure off it next are waiting with no construction money.

How close this project came to waiting another three years

In January, Gov. Brad Little proposed removing $275 million from ITD's Strategic Initiatives Fund, as the Idaho Capital Sun reported. The Legislature approved the cut. By July, East Idaho News reported that more than $1 billion in highway projects meant to handle growth had moved to an unfunded list, 68 projects in all.

The Star widening could easily have been on that list. At the Idaho Transportation Board's May meeting, the project was described as bid-ready with no funding shown. Jason Brinkman, ITD's district engineer for Southwest Idaho, told KIVI there had been "some deliberation this spring, frankly, over whether we could afford to widen Highway 44 in the near term." The station reported that Chadwick traveled to Pocatello to meet with the board and kept working with ITD staff afterward. ITD found savings from bids and work on other projects to cover about half of a total budget of roughly $12 million, with the other half going into the next year's program.

Then the bid came in low. The City of Star's September 1 transportation report says the project "came in half of what was anticipated," with an awarded bid of $5,384,589, and that the job was moved up from 2029. The mayor's report closes by thanking "all citizens and businesses" who helped keep the widening through Star from being cut.

Which projects around Star are funded

The table below lists the larger projects around Star and where each stood as of early fall 2026. Cost figures come from the City of Star's September report unless noted.

The two unfunded rows matter most for drivers. Chinden is the other east-west route through the Star and Middleton area, and SH-16 north of the interchange carries traffic toward Beacon Light and Floating Feather. The city's report marks both "DELAYED," citing state funding cuts. The Idaho Transportation Board approved its FY2027–2033 program on September 17. Under that program, the downtown State Street widening is the one major capacity project around Star with construction money attached, and it has firm dates. In June, ITD was also seeking right-of-way funding for the SH-16 segment between A Street and Beacon Light Road. That money pays for land acquisition, not construction.

What driving State Street will be like through 2027

The work zone starts near Moyle Avenue, where the interchange project has already widened SH-44, and runs west to Star Road. According to ITD's project page, the schedule runs in three phases:

1. Fall 2026: utility and paving work begins, as weather permits.
2. Spring 2027: widening and paving continue.
3. Fall/Winter 2027: construction complete, with the opening timed to match the SH-16/SH-44 interchange.

The city's report puts the start in November 2026, so a few quiet weeks on State Street this fall don't mean the job has slipped. ITD project manager Jackson Smart told KIVI the work should take about a year.

ITD has spelled out how traffic will move during construction:

• No full closures of SH-44 are expected.
• During the day, at least one lane stays open in each direction.
• Partial lane closures with flaggers will mostly happen at night.
• Expect four traffic shifts, each moving cars to the opposite side of the active work.
• Access to local businesses stays open.
• Night work brings equipment noise and backup alarms.

The daytime lane count barely changes from today, since downtown already has one through lane each way. Daytime driving should feel much like it does now. The changes come at night and with each traffic shift, when lane positions move.

Knife River is building both jobs

Knife River Construction is the contractor on both the widening and the SH-16/SH-44 interchange. ITD says that lets the two crews coordinate directly. Drivers already went through one of the interchange's big changes this summer. In mid-August, crews moved the SH-16/SH-44 intersection east to line up with the new ramps, and ITD reported all lanes reopened on August 14 with SH-16 traffic using those ramps. Brinkman described the plan for both projects to KIVI: "We should coast them both to the finish line at about the same time."

The smaller fixes finishing this fall

While the state project gets underway, the Ada County Highway District is wrapping up two intersection jobs on Pollard Lane on the north side of town:

• Pollard Lane and Beacon Light Road, scheduled for October 2026: left-turn lanes onto Pollard from both directions on Beacon Light, plus a crosswalk on the west side of the intersection.
• Pollard Lane and Floating Feather Road, scheduled for November 2026: right- and left-turn lanes onto Floating Feather from Pollard, plus center turn lanes on Floating Feather on both sides of Pollard.

Several projects are already done this year: the Pollard Lane/Floating Feather Road pedestrian facilities, the Munger Road bridge replacements, and a pedestrian beacon at Star Road and Hidden Brook. None of them adds through lanes. They improve turns and crossings, and the Floating Feather corridor work east of Pollard, valued at $9.07 million, still has no construction year.

Thursday's drop-in at Liberty Hall

ITD's first public drop-in meeting for the widening is today, Thursday, October 22, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Liberty Hall, 960 S. Main St. in Star. You can come anytime during those two hours, and ITD says more meetings will follow in 2027. It's a good chance to ask the project team when the first traffic shift is planned, how night work will be scheduled near your part of State Street, and when lanes will open around City Hall.

If you can't make it, you can sign up for construction updates by text: send 44WIDENING to 1-866-483-8422. You can also email [email protected] or call 208-261-2443. For more on daily life in town, see our Star neighborhood page and our guide to Friday nights at the Star Riverhouse.

If you're thinking about listing a home near State Street during construction, or after the new lanes open in late 2027, timing is something to plan around. Chuck and Laura Costa can help you work out how the construction schedule fits your plans, starting with a free home valuation.