WORK RESUMES ON TWIN FALLS ALTERNATE ROUTE
GOVERNOR APPLAUDS ECONOMIC BOOST, IMPROVED SAFETY, BETTER FLOW OF COMMERCE

(TWIN FALLS) – With headlines carrying bad news about local jobs, Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter said the time is right for resuming work on the Twin Falls Alternate Route, three years after completing the first part of the project aimed at relieving a traffic flow bottleneck while promoting employment growth in Twin Falls.

The Governor helped break ground today on Stage 2 of the Twin Falls Alternate Route. It will connect Pole Line Road with the main north-south route through the area at the U.S. 93/U.S. 30 junction south of Twin Falls. The first stage, completed in 2006, ran through the heart of Twin Falls, from Blue Lakes Boulevard to Grandview Drive.

The estimated 500 jobs that will be created or sustained as a result of Stage 2 is only the beginning of the economic benefit that Twin Falls and the broader Magic Valley will realize from the project, Governor Otter said.

“We need safe and efficient corridors of commerce to keep our products and our economy moving,” he said. “While federal stimulus funding was timely in this case, we cannot leave it to others to provide the roads and bridges that Idahoans need to keep our families safe and create jobs that become careers. Securing our future means providing the means to pay for necessary projects like this – like Dover Bridge, like the Vista Interchange, and like the turn lanes at Rigby High School. The return on investment is immeasurable.”

Addressing Idaho’s huge and growing backlog of road and bridge maintenance, repair and improvement needs is a key element of Governor Otter’s Project 60 initiative – a comprehensive, coordinated statewide effort to create jobs and economic opportunity.

Even in a tough economy, a number of projects are under way in Twin Falls that will add dozens of new jobs. St. Luke’s Magic Valley Medical Center is building a 700,000-square-foot hospital that will mean 50 new jobs when the facility opens in 2011; and a 250,000-square-foot Wal-mart opened earlier this summer, creating 250 jobs.

Three new hotels – Ameritel, Hilton Garden Inn and Holiday Inn Express – have opened in Twin Falls during the past year, and more than 10 new retail and office centers have opened in 2009. Additional projects in the works include a new Health Sciences building at the College of Southern Idaho and the relocation of a dried-food manufacturer from Southern California. More details are included in the attached fact sheet.

“All that shows tremendous confidence in the area and in our people,” Governor Otter said. “Businesses are investing in the future of Twin Falls, the Magic Valley, and Idaho. We need to do the same.”

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Economic Activity Fact Sheet - Twin Falls

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