Motorcyclist injured, SH-41 blocked for two hours in Post Falls crash
A Post Falls motorcyclist was hurt when she lost control turning onto northbound SH-41, blocking the highway for two hours at Mullan Avenue.
Northbound SH-41 was shut down for about two hours at one of Post Falls’ busiest crossings after a 46-year-old woman lost control of her Harley-Davidson and fell while turning from eastbound Mullan Avenue onto the highway.
Idaho State Police said the crash happened at about 5:44 p.m. on May 16 at State Highway 41 and Mullan Avenue in Kootenai County. The woman, who is from Post Falls, was taken to the hospital by ground ambulance. Police did not say another vehicle was involved, and the case remains under investigation.
The crash landed at a junction that carries far more than local traffic. SH-41 is one of Post Falls’ main north-south corridors, while Mullan Avenue is a major east-west route feeding homes, businesses and access points across the city. Idaho Transportation Department traffic counts show one Post Falls monitoring point on the corridor recorded a 2024 annual average of 63,882 vehicles per day, underscoring how quickly even a single injury crash can ripple through the evening commute.
The intersection is also part of a larger state reconstruction effort. The Idaho Transportation Department is rebuilding the I-90 and SH-41 interchange to improve safety, capacity and connectivity. The project includes widening SH-41 to Mullan Avenue and finishing the SH-41 and Mullan Avenue intersection. Construction began in 2022 and is expected to finish in 2026, with the work awarded to Scarsella Brothers, Inc. for $78 million.
Post Falls has been planning for that growth for years. The City Council adopted a 2025 Transportation Master Plan in May, a long-range blueprint that looks ahead to 2045. An earlier Highway 41 Corridor Master Plan, prepared in 2002, was intended to guide continued growth while limiting disruption to traffic flow along the corridor.
The May 16 crash also followed other changes at the same crossing. In December 2024, the SH-41 and Mullan Avenue intersection was closed overnight while crews installed a new signal structure, another sign of how heavily the area is being managed as traffic builds.
The location has a history of serious wrecks as well. Idaho State Police reported an injury crash at northbound SH-41 and Mullan Avenue on April 28, 2015, involving a Subaru, a log truck and a Kia Sedona.
For Post Falls drivers and riders, the latest crash is another reminder that the SH-41 and Mullan Avenue corridor remains a high-risk point where speed, spacing and turning decisions can quickly turn a routine trip into a hospital run.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
