STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Main Street between the Limelight Hotel and Ketchum is now paved following a summer of road construction.

It still can’t be driven as manholes need to be installed and striping finished. But, weather permitting, it will reopen on or about Wednesday, Sept. 18. It will take up to two weeks for traffic lights to become fully operational.

The project should be finished just in time to provide a smooth walking path for some 1,500 sheep when they make their way along Main Street during the Trailing of the Sheep Festival Oct. 2-6. But Project Main Street isn’t done, and work from Elkhorn Road to River Street is in the works, as well.

The City of Ketchum has released a timeline for upcoming work:

Oct. 7, 2024—On or around this date Intermountain Gas Company will start boring a gas line under Trail Creek along Highway 75 to enable new bridge piers to be erected in spring 2025. This will require a full closure of both the northbound and southbound lanes of the Trail Creek Bridge for up to four weeks.

The city will relocate a sanitary sewer line and water valve in the area during this time to minimize future disruptions.

Mid-February 2025: Crews will begin building half of a new Trail Creek Bridge at the entrance to Ketchum. It likely will start just after President’s Day Week. The second half of the bridge will be built in late winter/early spring 2026 when water is low.

Northbound traffic will use Highway 75 to get to Ketchum while southbound traffic will be detoured to Second Avenue and Serenade Lane. Both halves of the project are expected to last approximately 15 weeks from mid-February to the end of May.

The city has explored alternative construction schedules to avoid conflicts with the 2025 World Cup Finals in March, said spokesperson Lisa Enourato. But environmental and regulatory requirements dictate that work in the creek channel occurs during late winter and early spring when water levels are low and outside of fish spawning periods.

Spring 2025—The Idaho Transportation Department will begin expanding the roadway, enhancing pedestrian access and constructing a new Trail Creek Bridge between Elkhorn Road and River Street at Ketchum’s south entrance. The project is expected to be done in 2026.

Spring 2025—The city will resume Project Main Street, starting at 4th and Main and continuing to 10th Street, as soon as weather permits, presumably in April. Detour routes are being developed.

For more information, visit https://itdprojects.idaho.gov/pages/idaho75.