The Ada County Highway District will begin work to better serve residents across Ada County, after the Meridian City Council's approval of ACHD's application for a new maintenance complex.
Tuesday night, Meridian City Council Members approved the annexation and zoning application for ACHD to construct a new maintenance complex located on Ustick Road, between Black Cat and Ten Mile Roads, near Meridian's Wastewater Resource and Recovery Facility.
The Ustick Maintenance Complex will allow the District to easily reach the western portions of Ada County. The new complex will eventually house a full maintenance crew, including grade crew, utility crew, broom crew, drainage crew, and fleet mechanic services.
Last year, ACHD went before Meridian's Planning and Zoning Committee for an annexation and zoning request to allow for the operation of the brand-new maintenance complex located on Ustick Road in Meridian. ACHD asked Meridian City Council Members to defer discussion on the complex in September which allowed ACHD Commissioners to run through the formal approval process of the Integrated Five-Year Work Plan and secure funding to begin design of the Ustick Road widening, a main topic of discussion in the Public Hearing.
With council approval, ACHD can begin working on developing the property. The first steps include working with an architect on formal design of the buildings, pathways, and landscape. The complex is expected to be complete in 2029.
The widening of Ustick Road will also go on as planned, with construction expected to begin in 2024.
"The tremendous growth throughout Ada County, especially in Meridian, Eagle, and Star, drives more demand for maintenance of Ada County roads in those areas," said Jennifer Berenger, Deputy Director of Maintenance. "The location of the proposed Ustick Maintenance Yard will help increase our response timelines in those areas, which is critical for essential services such as winter maintenance, emergency flooding, and response to illicit spills to protect our waterways."
The Ustick Maintenance Complex will become the District's third maintenance complex with two others located on Cloverdale Road in Boise and Adams Street in Garden City.
ACHD plans to move operations from the Adams Maintenance Yard to property ACHD owns along Apple Street, off of Federal Way, in Southeast Boise. While the Adams Maintenance Yard originally sat fairly secluded, the residential boom has placed more neighbors near the current site than ever before. The Apple Street site is zoned heavy industrial and ACHD would be joining other industrial operations in the area.
ACHD's Traffic Operations and Traffic Management Center will also relocate to a new operations complex on Franklin Road. The expansion and relocation of all of these services combined will leave only ACHD headquarters operational on Adams Street in Garden City. ACHD will evaluate what to do with any remaining unneeded property after all Maintenance operations are moved and operational.