Goose Lake Road, SH 55 to Brundage Mountain Resort Design-Build

Goose Lake Road is a narrow, paved forest highway that traversed mountainous terrain for four miles between SH-55 and Brundage Mountain Ski Resort (Brundage Resort), and is maintained by the Federal Highway Administration’s Western Federal Lands Highway Division (WFLHD) and Adams County. Prior to reconstruction, this roadway had the highest accident rate in the Payette National Forest and needed to be widened in order to improve safety. Lochner was the lead designer for this $10 million design-build reconstruction project, the first roadway design-build project for WFLHD in Idaho. The project was exclusively built using machine grading from Lochner’s 3-D model, increasing construction efficiency, and assisting with shortening the duration of both design and construction.

Because of long winters in this high elevation area, the construction window is only four months each year (June to September). In order to align the design with the four-month window, Lochner designed a new 26-foot-wide roadway, with 10-foot-wide roadside drainage ditches in just six months, allowing for construction to start in June of 2016. With safety in mind, Lochner’s design realigned several sections of roadway to minimize and/or eliminate dangerous accident-causing curves by providing a straighter alignment, making it safer for motorists, bicyclists, and maintenance staff.

Lochner’s design included replacing two corrugated metal pipe culverts with clear span aquatic organism passages to allow for fish passage, enhancing the sight distance at the intersection of Goose Lake Road and SH-55, and adding left- and right-turn bays on all legs. Design for snow plow maintenance pullouts assisted with wetland mitigation by using a wetlands bank, which improved the habitat on the Little Salmon River. To relocate affected utilities, Lochner remained in close communication with utility companies (Idaho Power and Frontier Communications), as well as the WHFLD.

Lochner prepared construction staging and maintenance-of-traffic plans that maintained access to Brundage Resort and the Payette National Forest throughout the summer months. Throughout the construction season, two lanes of roadway were maintained and open every Friday through Sunday to allow recreational access. During active construction, one lane remained open to the public with the use of flaggers.

Lochner also assisted with public involvement efforts, working closely with the Developer, WFLHD, Brundage Resort, the utility companies, Adams County, City of McCall, and other involved stakeholders to ensure that various construction activities would not impact the traveling public or interrupt access to recreational areas. Brundage Resort is a popular destination for weddings, receptions, and corporate hospitality, so keeping Brundage Resort informed on project progress early and often during construction was important. It was also a high priority to inform biking groups, rental shops, and outfitters of the project’s progress through stakeholder meetings and community outreach. The project team worked closely with the McCall Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau to diligently distribute project information to their members and visitors.