ACHD

Three I-84 Crash Victims Served In USAF, New Wider Overpass Likely

Officials at Mountain Home Air Force Base confirmed the identity of three victims in the fiery I-84 crash were members of the U.S. Force.

Here is the Air Force media release:

Three Airmen from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, were killed in the accident Saturday night on Interstate84 in Boise, Idaho.

The Airmen have been identified as Senior Airman Carlos V. Johnson, 366th Civil Engineer Squadron, Senior Airman Lawrence P. Manlapit III, 391st Fighter Squadron, and Senior Airman Karlie A. Westall, 366th Operations Support Squadron.

“I am devastated by the loss of our Airmen,” said Col. Joe Kunkel, 366th Fighter Wing commander. “The upcoming weeks will be tough on all of us, but I know the Gunfighter family will pull together to support each other as well as the family and friends impacted by this tragic event.”

Officials of the Idaho Transportation Department and the Ada County Highway District have been meeting to work out repairs to the damaged Cloverdale overpass. It looks like they may rebuild the bridge as a four lane overpass to help deal with the heavy volume of traffic.

While no direct cause of the fatal crash which claimed four lives has been revealed, both ACHD and ITD are reviewing their construction zone warning policies. The GUARDIAN has noted the need for extended warnings with cones, barrels, and flashing lights since speed limits and traffic have both been increased.

Comments & Discussion

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  1. Clancy Anderson
    Jun 20, 2018, 3:42 pm

    Road departments often fail to ensure safety for all road users in construction zones. This one happens to be on an interstate highway, so high speeds are definitely a factor.

    Locally, ACHD often fails to provide accommodations for people navigating the public roads and right of way if they are not traveling in a vehicle. People on foot or bike often have to dodge construction signage or move into the roadway to navigate a construction site whether it is an ACHD project or a hotel downtown. People with disabilities have an even tougher time.

    ACHD is updating their ADA Transition Plan. This plan mostly addresses existing deficiencies and how to fix them. But many road departments also add ways to accommodate pedestrians and bicycles in a construction zone and comply with ADA standards.

    Adding these accommodations to a construction zone traffic plan will create a less confusing environment and add an extra level of safety for all.

  2. It is a shame that these airmen lost their lives. I had noticed the signs along the I-84 construction route and I did noticed some of them put there by ITD were notifying motorists of night time road work and to check ITD 511 for updates. Checking for updates while driving is causing distracted driving.

    During this construction, I have never seen any ISP troopers, no one from ADA Sheriff patrols the area, nor does MPD, or BPD. The locals rely solely on ISP who seems to have no one available. Why aren’t the motorcycle units patrolling during critical times?

    The local coppers could also put up a radar trailer maybe with a camera to help out overall it would be cheaper than the deaths and investigations. BTW, has anyone seen flaggers during the road work?

    In order to make the area safer maybe we need a saturation patrol like this one https://bit.ly/2M9WhMO there are enough motorcycle police in the valley from Caldwell to Boise to make this happen and be successful.

  3. Las Vegas Rebel
    Jun 20, 2018, 5:55 pm

    The legislature needs to put more troopers on the road. At any one time the state usually has about 5 Troopers to handle all of the Boise region and a few resident troopers scattered in Valley and Elmore county. The region spans from Adams county to the Oregon border south to Owyhee County and East to Gooding county/Elmore county line. Then account for Troops off for training, vacation and sick time it doesn’t leave many cars out to patrol.

    The city and county officers don’t patrol the interstate as it is seen as ISP responsibility and their response area. They respond when ISP is not available.

    It seems like in this instance the signage might have not have been sufficient because there had been calls to both Ada County and ISP dispatch the night prior, however sometimes no matter how much warning is given there are still inattentive drivers that will cause crashes.

  4. I have seen many lane closures in Idaho and other states that I have traveled in, I worked for Virginia Department of Transportation and we always had to go by the Federal mandate policy…when federal money is used the policies have to be in place. With the speed of the interstate and night work there should have been an officer out on the work zone in order to slow the traffic down. I did not see the lane closure so I do not know if there was a reduction of speed in the work zone. Night work is always dangerous and you always have people that are in a hurry and wont move over when they see a lane closed and want to wait till the last minute to get in. It is a sad thing that lives were taken…I pray for the families of all the people that have been affected. I watched a video with a caller that had contacted 911 about the lane closure was a danger to the traveling public and nothing was done about it so I guess we will find out who was at fault. It is the responsibility of the state to make sure that these lane closures are set up and that traffic is moving safe. The inspectors are suppose to keep a check on the safety of the traveling public…Short cuts never work……

  5. Dollars and Sense
    Jun 20, 2018, 8:26 pm

    RIP

    Over 3 million miles of freeway driving. Several close calls. Lucky! Often is a macho idiot involved or someone too tired or texting or drinking or drugs. Driving with misplaced aggression on the increase?

    Doing traffic stops in or near construction zones causes collisions. Also minimal patrols because lawmakers and their families will collect tickets at higher than average rate?

    The coneheads with clipboards need to wise up. I have repeatedly experience construction zone traffic cone diversions with inherently confusing and dangerous designs. Each day it gets a little bit more dangerous as the cones get knocked about. The dumbest thing in Boise is the eastbound speed limit increase to 80 a few feet before the Micron/Gowen exit. You can’t tell me people with a degree in traffic engineering arrange this stuff?

  6. Dear Dollars and Sense:
    Doing traffic stops in or near construction zones causes collisions. I completely agree. Even if road signs were not in place, the first truck driver should have seen all the brake lights come on and think to themselves, I wonder what is going on ahead of me? It had been working fine up until some driver was HUA (head up A$$)

  7. Dollars and Sense
    Jun 22, 2018, 12:54 pm

    Brian, while I agree with your coulda woulda shoulda summary in spirit. The fact remains humans are less than perfect. Human judgements and senses are designed by the creator for walking speeds in daylight. Roadways need to accommodate human errors of judgement, perception, and skill so as to minimize the implications of human failures. Very few perfect humans on the freeway. Very few NASA astronaut candidates are driving trucks and cars. Only a fool thinks they are such a good driver this can’t happen to them.

    The geeky guy from Idaho Transportation Department who has been confidently declaring it’s not their fault on the TV news needs to understand that even if the guidelines were followed, young people in the prime of life are needlessly dead. This means the geeky people who make the guidelines need to change the guidelines for improved safety within traffic diversions.

    This wreck is a big surprise in Boise but similar wrecks for similar reasons happen routinely all across America. The NTSB should be involved in the investigations since the problem is killing way more people than planes, trains, and ships. I have no idea why Americans accept the high roadway dead rates when much lesser threats are more aggressively addressed.

    There is slow improvement with bigger improvements during economic recessions. We can do better.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in_U.S._by_year

  8. Dollars and Sense
    Jun 22, 2018, 8:44 pm

    Another great example of the geeks getting us killed on the roads. Listen to IDT explaining how a very deadly intersection does not meet criteria for redesign. Lots of dead people are just another number to them?

    The ITD speaks at about the 2:00 mark.

    https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/intersection-along-idaho-55-has-deadly-history/277-566516217

  9. Dollars and Sense
    Jun 23, 2018, 6:20 pm

    ACHD. I’d like to point out ITD has a stoplight installed at ITD HQ on State street exclusively for its own parking lot. The location does not meet criteria for a stoplight. In the interest of smoother traffic flow on a busy commuter route that stoplight should be removed.

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