How Bad is the Traffic in Idaho?

Hey everyone! Dave Edwards along with Treasure Valley Aaron here. Today we’re just going out here on a random Friday in rush hour traffic and people have asked, how bad is the traffic in Idaho? So we decided that we would answer that question by driving throughout the Treasure Valley and documenting our experience. Come along!

Traveling on Interstate 84 Towards Boise

We just left Nampa and got on Interstate 84. Here we’ve only got one interstate and we are traveling towards Boise. We wanted to share what driving looks like during the worst part of the traffic (the freeway) and the worst part of the day (around 5 pm) of the worst part of the week (on a Friday) and it’s not too bad. I don’t think anyone has wrecked, I’m sure if there’s a wreck it’d be a big issue. It does look like someone lost a box though! Dang someone lost a storage shed! 

Look at that guy he’s riding a motorcycle and he has got a helmet on! You can wear a helmet here, but you don’t have to. We’re just now coming up on Meridian Road which has all of these new businesses coming in here. There used to be fields, but I suppose we’re gonna blame that on Californians. No, if you’re gonna blame somebody. I’d blame it on Gavin Newsom. Hey, there’s High Desert Harley! That’s where a previous client had his motorcycle shipped, so he didn’t have to drive it up here from Phoenix. I guess they’re pretty nice folks over there. We’re coming up on a TopGolf that is currently under construction. You can go over there and hit some golf, what is it like Putt-Putt Aaron?  

Aaron: No, it’s a driving range, not driving as in a vehicle but driving the ball. 

Oh, so I got pretty good at Putt-Putt, especially after a couple of beers I let the tension out. I’m not Tiger Woods mind you, I don’t think Tiger Woods worried about me taking his spot in golf. 

Aaron: No, because you’re a family man.  

Well, that’s true. He might be too. He might have two or three of them.

The Flying Y

Up here is where Interstate 84 kind of peels off in two directions. One comes from downtown off to the left, or the north side, and the other one goes out towards the southern part of town as if you’re going to Twin Falls. Right at this time with people getting off work, you will hit a little bit of a bottleneck. Where that bottleneck meets is called the “Flying Y”. 

Now as we turn off of the main i-84 here towards downtown Boise you’ll notice that the speed limit does drop down to 60mph. Off to our left is an old-fashioned mall, that’s the kind of mall where you can go, and you won’t find any graffiti or junk like that. There’s the sheriff’s place or the jail, and they got jobs that they are hiring for there. 

Driving in Downtown Boise

Here on the right by Curtis Road is the big St Al’s complex, I mean they will fix anything in there you know for bodies. They’re not a body shop but anything that ails you, they’ll fix it right there. As we come into Boise we drive right over the Boise River that you can go floating on during the summer. 

Aaron: And here are the only high-rise buildings in Idaho

No, they got a four-story one over in Caldwell. 

We kind of just drove right through downtown Boise and we didn’t see a whole lot of remarkable traffic over there. You could spend a whole day down here exploring everything so you will want to make sure you do come out and take some time. 

Aaron: Hey, isn’t sitting in the bed of the truck illegal?

No well I mean depends if they’re in California, maybe. 

Here’s Boise State this is where Treasure Valley Kelly went to school.

Traveling on Interstate 84 Towards Nampa

Alright, so we’re gonna get back on the freeway after we drive through what’s called the Boise Bench. 

Now, as I get on the freeway I like to get up to about 70 on the on-ramps, but we’re only going about 60mph so I’m going to deduct some points for that. We’re finally up to the speed limit sitting at 65mph. We’re moving right along and I’m seeing some red tail lights. This is where the two freeways start to come together. 

Driving on Eagle Rd in Meridian

Aaron: if I’m allowed to speak…

Please do.

Aaron: I do not generally like driving on Eagle. 

And that’s the reason that we’re doing it because you don’t like driving on Eagle. We got a green arrow so that’s probably a good sign right? 

Aaron: I think it’s a great sign see now notice the speed limit is 50 miles per hour 

And we’re down to 10… 

Eagle Road is the busiest Road in the entire State and I mean we’re not zipping right along, but here it is the rush hour it’s quarter to five right now on Eagle Road and sure we got a stop light, we’re backed up a little bit but that hasn’t been the way most of the trip. 

Oh my gosh in California you hit a red light and then the next light’s red and then the next, and the next… then you have to wait a cycle and Lord help you if trying to turn left because it’s a red arrow and you can’t go on a red arrow. But up here we have our little Blinky Blinky yellow arrows. 

Well, I think this is where we’re going to bail out. It’s been fun driving today, it wasn’t too bad, and the traffic wasn’t too heavy. Thank you for coming along with Aaron and I!

The Leaving California Facebook Group

Idaho still has a very reasonable housing market here and is still growing! I would say a lot of that is because of people leaving California. There’s a Facebook group called Leaving California started by Terry Gilliam, filled with conversations and discussions of people that are talking about leaving California, and a lot of them end up moving here! We have a Facebook group of our own called Idahoans at Heart where we talk about all things Idaho. We’d love for you to join!

In Closing

If you’re thinking about Idaho, maybe it’s a place that you want to check out because you’ve heard a lot of good things about it give me a call or send a text to 208-860-2004 or email our team at info@tresurevalleydave.com we’ve all moved here from someplace else and we’re all so absolutely glad that we did.