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ITD ends highway radio system due to high costs, lack of use

“Given the other options out there for people and given the cost to keep that system up, we felt it really wasn’t a wise use of taxpayer dollars to do that."

BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Transportation Department is decommissioning its highway radio system, which alerts truckers about current road conditions and reports, saying they could not justify the high cost of keeping the radio system alive. 

ITD told KTVB that there are two main reasons why they're ending the system: the high cost of maintenance and it being underutilized. To upgrade the radio system and keep on the airwaves, ITD would have to pay at least $312,000 to do so, which the department said they couldn't justify doing.

“We did a survey with the trucking community and some other states to determine what is the real use of our system? And we found that it was pretty minimal," Jake Melder, a spokesperson for ITD, told KTVB during a phone interview on Tuesday. “Given the other options that are out there for people and given the cost to keep that system up, we felt it really wasn’t a wise use of taxpayer dollars to do that.”

Resources like the 511 Travel Advisory, digital messaging boards, and road apps have become the go-to source for the latest road conditions in recent years, leaving ITD's radio system dated and with few users.

ITD said there is no set timeframe for when all of the signs will be taken down but crews are already working to take them now.

Idaho has 25 HAR sites and 58 beacons for the system, but Melder said ITD is looking at different options that they could take with repurposing the system's equipment. The signs' flashing lights, solar panels, and modems could all be repurposed.

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