Interstate 86 (Idaho)

Interstate 86
Route information
Maintained by ITD
Length:	62.850 mi[1] (101.147 km)
Major junctions
West end:	I-84 / US 30 near Declo
	SH 37 in American Falls SH 39 in American Falls US 30 in West Pocatello US 91 in Chubbuck
East end:	I-15 in Chubbuck
Location
Counties:	Cassia, Power, Bannock
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future State Highways in Idaho Interstate U.S. State ← I-84 SH 87 →

Interstate 86 (I-86) is an intrastate Interstate Highway, located entirely within the state of Idaho. It runs 63 miles (101.4 kilometers) from an intersection with Interstate 84 located approximately 7 miles (11.3 kilometers) east of Declo in rural Cassia County, to an intersection with Interstate 15 at Pocatello. Interstate 86 connects the major eastern Idaho cities of Pocatello and Idaho Falls with the Twin Falls area and other cities in the state's Magic Valley region. Prior to the designation of Interstate 2 on May 30, 2013, Interstate 86 in Idaho was the shortest east-west route in the Interstate Highway System that is not a special route.^[2]

I-86 was proposed to become designated as Interstate 82N, but was eventually designated as Interstate 15W, instead.

Besides being short, the area Interstate 86 passes through is very desolate. Pocatello, Chubbuck and American Falls are the only incorporated settlements located on the highway. Between American Falls and Pocatello I-86 passes through a portion of Fort Hall Indian Reservation.

Route description

Exit from I-86 to Chubbuck

Cassia County

Running east, I-86 begins at an interchange with Interstate 84 and U.S. Route 30 in rural Cassia County; it becomes concurrent with US 30 at this interchange, and remains so for much of its route. The highway runs east through a rural and largely undeveloped section of Cassia County; it has no exits in its first 14 miles. After this section, I-86 crosses the Raft River and reaches an exit with Yale Road in the community of Raft River.

Power County

The highway continues east into Power County, running to the south of the Snake River. It reaches its next exit, at Barkdull Road in Coldwater, around milepost 21. I-86 heads northeast along the river to an exit at Massacre Rocks State Park. The highway continues northeast to meet Rock Creek Road in Neeley. Past Neeley, I-86 reaches an interchange with Idaho State Highway 37, which runs south to Rockland, and Interstate 86 Business, a business loop serving American Falls.

I-86 bypasses American Falls to the southeast, meeting its business loop and Idaho State Highway 39 east of the city near American Falls Airport. The highway runs south of the American Falls Reservoir to its next exit at Ramsey Road near Seagull Bay. Past this exit, the route enters the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. After passing another exit at Rainbow Road near the eastern edge of the reservoir, I-86 heads eastward toward Pocatello. It serves exits at Arbon Valley and the Pocatello Air Terminal before leaving the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. US 30 leaves I-86 at the next exit to the southeast, where the latter continues eastward across the Portneuf River.

Bannock County

The highway crosses into Bannock County and enters the city of Chubbuck, where it intersects U.S. Route 91. I-86 briefly passes through Pocatello without an interchange in the city and terminates at Interstate 15 outside the Pocatello city limits.^[1][3]

History

The route of Interstate 86 largely derives from a portion of U.S. Route 30N constructed in the 1920s, which in Idaho originally ran from Burley to a point on the Wyoming state line near Montpelier. Present-day Interstate 86 was proposed to become part of the Interstate Highway System as Interstate 82N,^[4] but was eventually designated in 1960 as Interstate 15W.^[5] U.S. Route 30N was designated as part of U.S. Route 30 in 1972. Interstate 86 continues to run concurrently with U.S. Route 30 for almost its entire length.^[6]

In the late 1970s, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials decided it was better to have duplicate numbers in different parts of the country instead of having suffixes. There was also an Interstate 15E in California at the time. Interstate 15W was re-designated as Interstate 86 in 1980.^[7]

Exit list

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Cassia	Declo	0.000	0.000		I-84 west / US 30 west – Twin Falls	West end of US-30 overlap
		0.000	0.000	1	I-84 east – Ogden, UT, Salt Lake City, UT	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance, western terminus; I-84 exit 222
	​	14.807	23.830	15	Raft River Area
Power	​	20.590	33.136	21	Coldwater Area
	​	28.100	45.223	28	Massacre Rocks State Park
	​	32.620	52.497	33	Neeley Area
	American Falls	36.123	58.134	36	I-86 Business Loop east / SH 37 – Rockland, American Falls	West end of Business Loop 86
		40.110	64.551	40	I-86 Business Loop west / SH 39 – Aberdeen, American Falls	East end of Business Loop 86
	​	44.327	71.337	44	Seagull Bay
	​	49.152	79.102	49	Rainbow Road
	​	52.491	84.476	52	Arbon Valley
	​	55.551	89.401	56	Pocatello Air Terminal
	​	58.087	93.482	58	US 30 east – West Pocatello	East end of US-30 overlap
Bannock	Chubbuck	61.268	98.601	61	US 91 (Yellowstone Avenue) – Chubbuck
		62.526	100.626	63	I-15 – Salt Lake City, Idaho Falls	Eastern terminus & signed as exits 63A (south) & 63B (north); I-15 exit 72; tri-stack directional T interchange.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Interstate 86 (Idaho).

Route map: Google

• Idaho Highway Index Page (photos of I-86)