Highway 33 Access Points Close Oct. 1

DRIGGS — The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) will begin closing five Highway 33 access points and two four-wheeler tracks between Driggs and Victor on Oct. 1, working with Teton County to remove them one at a time.

The closures are at 1520, 2116, 3228, 3714, and 4760 S. 500 W. Each one crosses County Road 500 West and the bike path before it reaches the highway. Drivers who use them will get onto SH-33 from 500 West and the county roads running between 1000 and 6000 South.

ITD credits a Safe Streets for All study, paid for by a grant to Teton County, which the agency says found that cutting the number of access points along the corridor was critical to safety. "It's not often we have a parallel running road that's an ideal alternative for drivers and residents," ITD Engineering Manager Bryan Young said. "This is a unique scenario that we're confident will make Teton Valley safer."

The access at 1520 S. 500 W. is the most direct route to the Learning Academy on 500 West. Families driving to the school will use W 2000 S or the 500 West intersection with the highway instead.

The county's SH-33 Access Closure Plan covers milepost 142.4 to milepost 149.3 and says ITD and Teton County "are partnering together to remove all accesses that are not county roads." Maintenance crews will excavate the ground back to its original grade and reseed it, including around the bike path. ITD is working to install turn lanes on the highway at county-road intersections, while its top-ranked turn-lane project on the corridor, at 6000 South, has no construction funding after state budget cuts.

Teton County Public Works Director Darryl Johnson told commissioners Sept. 14 that "the ones they're proposing on here are the ones that aren't controversial." Others, he said, "I expect to be a little more contentious, and those aren't on this list that they're starting with." ITD's access improvements map marks four more access points for removal later, after the agency improves certain intersections along the corridor.

Crews will work through the fall to remove the old roadways and set barriers, and ITD says traffic on the highway will not be affected while they do. The closure plan sets completion for May 29, 2027. Changes are posted to the Idaho 511 app and at 511.idaho.gov.

Johnson said he did not expect ITD to "hold any public hearings" on the closures. Agency staff spent the previous week "knocking on doors and handing out flyers all up and down the corridor," he said. The county had discussed a hearing or a town hall, Johnson told commissioners, and "never got our schedules meshed, and so we didn't plan anything." County Administrator Billie Siddoway said she had not posted the plan online. "I have it on my to-do list for this week," she said.

A separate county study, funded through the same federal Safe Streets and Roads for All program, is mapping where wildlife and vehicles collide on Highways 33, 32 and 31. The county holds the first of two open houses on that plan Sept. 24 from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Commissioners' Meeting Room at the Teton County Courthouse in Driggs.

ITD Will Close Five Highway 33 Access Points Starting Oct. 1

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