Route information | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Maintained by ITD | ||||
Length | 148.701 mi [1] (239.311 km) | |||
Existed | 1967 [2] –present | |||
Tourist routes | Payette River Scenic Byway | |||
Major junctions | ||||
South end | US 95 west of Marsing | |||
I-84 / US 30 from Nampa to Meridian US 20 / US 26 in Eagle | ||||
North end | US 95 in New Meadows | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | Idaho | |||
Counties | Owyhee, Canyon, Ada, Boise, Valley, Adams | |||
Highway system | ||||
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State Highway 55 (SH-55) is an Idaho highway from Marsing to New Meadows, connecting with US-95 at both ends.
From Marsing it travels east to Nampa, Meridian, and Eagle, then north to Horseshoe Bend. SH-55 then climbs the Payette River to Banks, then its north fork to the Long Valley, through the towns of Cascade and McCall. After descending a narrow canyon to Meadows, SH-55 terminates in New Meadows at the junction with US-95.
In the southwest corner of Idaho, State Highway 55 starts at the junction with US-95, approximately two miles (3 km) west of Marsing. The highway heads eastward as it travels through Marsing, crosses the Snake River and the Snake River Valley AVA. The highway continues east to Nampa (mostly as Karcher Road), where it meets Interstate 84 and US-30.
The highway is cosigned with those routes as it heads eastward to Meridian. SH-55 turns northward at Eagle Road and crosses the Boise River near Eagle. The junction with SH-44 is in Eagle, where the routes are briefly cosigned.
East of Eagle, SH-55 turns northward and climbs to the Spring Valley and over the Spring Valley Summit, at 4,242 feet (1,293 m) above sea level, then descends 1,600 vertical feet (490 m) on Horseshoe Bend Hill into Horseshoe Bend. The new multi-lane grade was completed in late 1991; [3] the old curvier road to the west was long plagued by landslides and extended closures. [4] [5] [6] North of Horseshoe Bend, the highway ascends the Payette River and passes through several recreational areas, which offer rafting, fishing, and camping activities. SH-55 continues north, through the small communities of Banks and Smiths Ferry, then crosses the river via the Rainbow Bridge (built in 1933), originally known as the North Fork Bridge. [7]
SH-55 then climbs Round Valley Creek to Round Valley, and continues northward through the extended Long Valley of Valley County to the county seat of Cascade. It ascends a brief summit at 5,207 feet (1,587 m) at Little Donner then descends to follow the east shore of Cascade Reservoir. The route continues northward to Donnelly, the turnoff for Tamarack Resort, located to the southwest, on the western shore of the reservoir. SH-55 continues north through the valley to McCall, at the south shore of Payette Lake, the host of many scenic, recreational, and winter activities.
Meeting the south shore of Payette Lake, State Highway 55 turns westward as Lake Street through McCall and its west "Lardo" area. West of town, the road climbs to the Red Ridge, where it reaches its maximum elevation of 5,324 feet (1,623 m) at the Adams County line, also known as Goose Creek Summit immediately northeast of the Little Ski Hill.
Two miles (3 km) further is the turnoff for the Brundage Mountain ski area, four miles (6 km) north on Goose Lake Road. SH-55 then heads west and enters a narrow and twisty canyon, rapidly descending with Little Goose Creek to Meadows, then to its northern terminus, the junction with US-95 in New Meadows at 3,868 feet (1,180 m) in Meadows Valley. [8]
State Highway 55, from Eagle north to US-95 in New Meadows, is the Payette River Scenic Byway, [9] part of the National Scenic Byways Program. [10]
The original State Highway 55 ran from US-2 in Colburn to what is now State Highway 200. This highway was decommissioned in October 1955, and is now Colburn-Culver Road. [11]
The current route was designated as State Highway 55 in September 1967, replacing former State Highway 72 and former State Highway 15. [12] [2] Idaho State Highway 72 has since been reassigned to another road.
State Highway 55 was originally routed through downtown Boise, and followed the old alignment of State Highway 44 down State Street and 23rd Street to Fairview Avenue. From there it turned westward with US-20, US-26 and US-30. The highway continued westward on the Boise Connector then Interstate 180N (now Interstate 184), and continued west along Interstate 80N (now Interstate 84), where it followed its present alignment toward Nampa. [13]
Prior to the 1990s, the eastern junction with SH-44 in Eagle was a quarter-mile (0.4 km) east at Horseshoe Bend Road, which was SH-55.
In late 2006, the route was realigned away from downtown Nampa when a new interchange, Interchange #33 along Interstate 84 was opened and provided a more direct connection to State Highway 55 from the Interstate. The segments of SH-55 following the former Nampa Boulevard (now Northside Boulevard) and Caldwell Boulevard (now Business Route 84) through Nampa have been decommissioned favoring the more direct routing. From there the highway followed its current alignment from that point to Marsing and its southern terminus at US-95.
County | Location | mi [8] | km | Destinations | Notes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Owyhee | | 0.00 | 0.00 | US 95 – Homedale, Payette, Winnemucca | ||||
Marsing | 1.997 | 3.214 | SH-78 south – Grand View, Bruneau, Givens Springs | |||||
Canyon | Nampa | 16.154 | 25.997 | I-84 BL (Caldwell Boulevard) | ||||
16.588 | 26.696 | I-84 west (US-30) / Midland Boulevard – Caldwell, Ontario | West end of I-84 / US-30 overlap; SH-55 south follows exit 33A | |||||
see I-84 (mile 33.539–45.998) | ||||||||
Ada | Meridian | 29.06 | 46.77 | I-84 east (US-30) / South Eagle Road – Boise | East end of I-84 / US-30 overlap; SH-55 north follows exit 46 | |||
Boise–Eagle line | 33.92 | 54.59 | US 20 / US 26 (Chinden Boulevard) – Caldwell, Boise | |||||
Eagle | 35.83 | 57.66 | SH-44 west / Eagle Road – Emmett, Caldwell, Eagle, Firebird | south end of SH-44 overlap | ||||
37.79 | 60.82 | SH-44 east – Boise | north end of SH-44 overlap | |||||
Boise | Horseshoe Bend | 57.30 | 92.22 | SH-52 west – Emmett, Payette | ||||
Banks | 78.82 | 126.85 | Wildlife Canyon Scenic Byway (Banks–Lowman Road) – Garden Valley, Lowman | Elevation 2,815 ft (860 m) | ||||
Valley | No major junctions | |||||||
Adams | New Meadows | 148.70 | 239.31 | US 95 – Council, Grangeville, Lewiston | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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Valley County is a rural county located in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,746. The county seat is Cascade, and the largest city is McCall. Established in 1917, it was named after the Long Valley of the North Fork of the Payette River, which extends over 30 miles (50 km) from Payette Lake at McCall south to Cascade to Round Valley. The valley was formerly a summer pasture for livestock from the Boise Valley. Since the completion of the Cascade Dam in 1948, much of the northern valley has been covered by the Cascade Reservoir.
Boise County is a rural mountain county in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 7,610. The county seat is historic Idaho City, which is connected through a series of paved and unpaved roads to Lowman, Centerville, Placerville, Pioneerville, Star Ranch, Crouch, Garden Valley, and Horseshoe Bend.
New Meadows is a rural city in Adams County, Idaho, United States, at the southern and upper end of the Meadows Valley, on the Little Salmon River. Located in the west central part of the state, just south of the 45th parallel, the population was 496 at the 2010 census, down from 533 in 2000. New Meadows is located at the junction of the primary north–south highway in the state, U.S. Route 95, and State Highway 55, which connects it with McCall and Boise.
Horseshoe Bend is the largest city in rural Boise County, in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Idaho. Its population of 707 at the 2010 census was the largest in the county, though down from 770 in 2000.
Donnelly is a city in rural Valley County, Idaho, United States. The population was 152 at the 2010 census.
The Boise, Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is an area that encompasses Ada, Boise, Canyon, Gem, and Owyhee counties in southwestern Idaho, anchored by the cities of Boise and Nampa. It is the main component of the wider Boise–Mountain Home–Ontario, ID–OR Combined Statistical Area, which adds Elmore and Payette counties in Idaho and Malheur County, Oregon. It is the state's largest officially designated metropolitan area and includes Idaho's three largest cities: Boise, Nampa, and Meridian. Nearly 40 percent of Idaho's total population lives in the area.
The Idaho Northern and Pacific Railroad is a small railroad in southwestern Idaho and eastern Oregon in the United States. It owns 120 miles (190 km) of former Union Pacific Railroad branch lines, and is a subsidiary of the Rio Grande Pacific Corp., based in Fort Worth, Texas. Idaho Northern and Pacific's offices are in Emmett, Idaho.
Lowman is a small unincorporated rural census-designated place in the western United States, located in Boise County, Idaho. It is nestled along the north bank of the South Fork of the Payette River in the central part of the state, at an elevation of 3,800 feet (1,160 m) above sea level. As of the 2010 census, its population was 42.
Southwestern Idaho is a geographical term for the area along the U.S. state of Idaho's borders with Oregon and Nevada. It includes the populous areas of the Boise metropolitan area and the Treasure Valley.
Interstate 84 (I-84) in the U.S. state of Idaho is a major Interstate Highway that traverses the state from the Oregon state line in the northwest to Utah state line in the southeast. It primarily follows the Snake River across a plain that includes the cities of Boise, Mountain Home, and Twin Falls. The highway is one of the busiest in Idaho and is designated as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway.
State Highway 16 (SH-16) in Idaho is a 16-mile (26 km) route, connecting Emmett with US-20/US-26 and Star.
State Highway 44 (SH-44) is a 23.089-mile-long (37.158 km) state highway in the U.S. State of Idaho. SH-44 travels through the Treasure Valley from Interstate 84 (I-84) to U.S. Route 20 (US-20) and US-26 in Garden City, Idaho.
State Highway 69 (SH-69) is a 8.012-mile (12.894 km) state highway in Ada County, Idaho, United States, that connects East Avalon Street and North Orchard Avenue in Kuna with Interstate 84/U.S. Route 30/Idaho State Highway 55 (I-84/US 30/SH-55) in Meridian. SH-69 is the northern part of the Western Heritage Historic Byway, in the National Scenic Byways Program. SH-69 is a five-lane road for its entire length.
U.S. Route 30 (US 30) runs northwest–southeast across the southern half of lower Idaho for 455.481 miles (733.026 km). US 30 enters the state from Oregon across the Snake River in Fruitland and exits into Wyoming east of Dingle. US 30 runs through the large population centers of Boise, Twin Falls, and Pocatello, as well as a plethora of smaller communities from Fruitland to Montpelier. The Thousand Springs Scenic Byway is a picturesque section of US 30 in southern Idaho between the towns of Bliss and Buhl, dipping down into the Hagerman Valley and a canyon of the Snake River.
State Highway 75 is a two-lane highway in the western United States that travels through the Sawtooth Valley of central Idaho. The highway's southern terminus is in Shoshone, and its northern is near Challis. It is designated as one of Idaho's scenic byways and provides access to Sawtooth National Recreation Area and primarily follows the Big Wood River in the south and the main Salmon River in the north, divided by Galena Summit.
In the U.S. state of Idaho, U.S. Route 95 (US-95) is a north–south highway near the western border of the state, stretching from Oregon to British Columbia for over 538 miles (866 km); it was earlier known in the state as the North and South Highway.
Spring Valley Summit is a mountain pass in the western United States in southwestern Idaho, at an elevation of 4,242 feet (1,293 m) above sea level. North of the city of Boise, it is traversed by State Highway 55, the Payette River Scenic Byway.
State Highway 21 (SH-21), also known as the Ponderosa Pine Scenic Byway, is a state highway in Idaho. It runs from Boise to Stanley, primarily as a two-lane road. With two-thirds of its length in Boise County, it passes by historic Idaho City and the village of Lowman to the western edge of the Sawtooth Mountains, then along their northern boundary to Stanley.
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