I-90 ramp closures set for May 4 and 11 in Coeur d’Alene

Two of Coeur d’Alene’s busiest Interstate 90 connections will shut down in sequence, forcing commuters, shoppers and nearby businesses onto longer cross-town routes as the freeway widening work accelerates.

The U.S. Highway 95 westbound on-ramp to I-90 will close beginning May 4, followed by the I-90 westbound off-ramp to Northwest Boulevard on May 11. Each closure is set to last one week and will stay in place 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The Idaho Transportation Department says the ramps are being demolished and rebuilt as part of the larger I-90 widening project stretching from State Highway 41 in Post Falls to U.S. Highway 95 in Coeur d’Alene. For drivers who normally use those ramps to reach downtown, retail corridors and east-west commuting routes, the detour pattern will be immediate: traffic headed from US-95 to westbound I-90 will be directed to Appleway Avenue and then to Northwest Boulevard, while westbound drivers leaving I-90 for Northwest Boulevard will be sent to US-95 and then back through Appleway.

ITD says the closures are likely to bring significant congestion and delays because the affected interchanges are among the most heavily traveled on the corridor. Drivers trying to avoid the worst backups are being urged to use other access points when possible, including the 4th Street, 15th Street, Sherman Avenue and SH-41 interchanges.

Weather could still change the schedule. ITD says rain or other inclement weather may push the ramp work back.

The closures are part of a much larger effort to expand I-90 to four lanes in each direction, improve safety and ease congestion along one of North Idaho’s busiest routes. Construction on the four-year project began in August 2025 and is expected to continue through 2029. ITD says the corridor between SH-41 and US-95 is the most heavily traveled and congested stretch in the study area, and future traffic near the US-95 interchange is expected to double by 2045.

The widening work includes bridge replacements and widening over Huetter Road, Atlas Road and Prairie Trail, along with longer on- and off-ramps designed to make merging safer. It also calls for realignment of the Prairie Trail and Centennial Trail.

The Centennial Trail will close between Prairie Trail and Northwest Boulevard beginning the week of May 11 to make room for I-90 construction and city waterline improvements. Pedestrians and bicyclists will be detoured via Riverstone Drive, and that phase is expected to finish by mid-July.

ITD says the project is one of the largest infrastructure investments in North Idaho’s history and is being funded in part through Transportation Expansion and Congestion Mitigation money tied to Gov. Brad Little’s Leading Idaho initiative. The SH-41 interchange project in Post Falls is already under construction and is expected to be done in 2026, while the next major interchange at US-95 remains in design and could begin construction as early as 2027.