BY SOPHIA STURGEON
If you are a regular commuter in the Wood River Valley, chances are you’re no stranger to traffic heading north on weekday mornings and southbound in the evenings. However, this traffic has increased significantly since the spring of last year, especially in recent weeks. In the spring of 2025, the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) began construction on SH-75 from Elkhorn Road to River Street in Ketchum, and after a brief winter stint, the project is continuing into spring 2026.
The goal of the construction is to widen and realign the current two-lane road from Elkhorn Road all the way to River Street, as well as make some general improvements to this section of SH-75. The project includes turning the stretch from Elkhorn Road to Serenade Lane into a five-lane highway and turning the section from Serenade Lane to River Street, including the Trail Creek Bridge, into three lanes with bike lanes and sidewalks, installing a traffic signal at the SH-75 and Serenade Lane intersection, and filling in cracks/upgrading local roads. To view details about this project, head to storymaps.arcgis.com.
When the project left off in the spring of 2025, crews had created northbound lanes of SH-75 from south of Elkhorn Road to Serenade Lane and established utility relocations and retaining walls between Serenade Lane and River Street. Now they are picking up where they left off, but this means several through roads are being impacted, significantly affecting drivers’ access points from Elkhorn to Ketchum and creating especially unpleasant traffic.
Last week, drivers reported spending more than two hours in their cars to travel from Hailey to Ketchum, far exceeding the typical 15-to-20-minute commute. Although these delays are a direct result of the SH-75 construction, they were made far worse by the fact that the traffic light at the intersection of Elkhorn Road and Highway 75 malfunctioned; the light allotted far more time for drivers turning from Elkhorn Road onto the highway than it did for those driving through the intersection towards Ketchum, which is where northbound traffic typically accumulates.
Beginning at said traffic light, the road has shifted to two lanes; ITD and Idaho Power Company need to use the outer lanes for work zones, utility installation of essential infrastructure—water, electrical, telecommunication systems, etc., sidewalls, and trenching.
Much to commuters’ dismay, ITD has stated that all road work will occur during the daytime: Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. During this construction period, speed limits are reduced to 25 mph, and for the foreseeable future, one lane is expected to remain open in each direction along SH-75 between Elkhorn Road and the Trail Creek Bridge. Additionally, southbound Trail Creek Bridge traffic is detoured to 2nd Avenue.
The Blaine County Sheriff’s Office gave commuters the rundown on traffic patterns in the coming weeks/months, stating, “Traffic will shift to the west side of SH-75 between Elkhorn Road and Weyyakin Drive, and to the east side of SH-75 between Weyyakin Drive and Serenade Lane.” It also warned motorists to expect traffic shifts and lane closures to occur on SH-75 and local roads, as well as short-term closures between Serenade Lane and River Street.
During this 2026 construction process, ITD has big plans in store. The list includes building the west half of the Trail Creek Bridge, completing all necessary improvements to the intersection of SH-75 and Elkhorn Road, and the stretch between Elkhorn Road and Weyyakin Drive, widening the section between Weyyakin Drive and River Street, and improving the intersection of SH-75 and Serenade Lane. More details about this project, and its timeline, can be found at itd.idaho.gov/project/idaho75/.