cancel
Showing results forย 
Search instead forย 
Did you mean:ย 

Detour around Boise via SR 95 & 78

Community Alumni
Not applicable
We're heading south from BC and usually travel I-84 thru Ore and Idaho to Twin Falls. We're finding the traffic on I-84 before and thru Boise is insane and dangerous. I wonder whether a detour via SR 95 at I-84/SR95 junction then south on SR95 to Marsing then SR78 from Marsing to Grandview, then SR167 to Mountain Home (where there's an excellent RV park) would be an acceptable and safe option. Time of travel would be early Nov southbound, then late March returning to BC via same northbound detour via Mountain Home, Grandview, Marsing then up to I-84 via US95.
26 REPLIES 26

2oldman
Explorer II
Explorer II
Sounds like bad luck. Of all the cities you list, Boise is by far the easiest, and I've been towing at 60' for 15 years. Las Vegas (to me) is a nightmare, any time of day.

Not to beat you up any more, but yours is the first post I've ever seen complaining of Boise traffic. What time are you going through there?
"If I'm wearing long pants, I'm too far north" - 2oldman

Community Alumni
Not applicable
Thanks TUCWALA for a little understanding. I was starting to feel a bit beat up by previous replies. My husband is the driver, he is very skilled and has proper licensing to tow our big rig (I think many other don't go that far). We are 53' hooked up. When coming into busy areas such as Boise, subject to lane layout, he usually moves one lane left from the right side curb lane in anticipation of merging traffic. We (he) has towed our rig through many other busy congested locations (Salt Lake, Vegas, Seattle, Portland, Phoenix, and I-10 from Phoenix to and around LA then I-5 north through to Vancouver, BC) all without incident. It's those experiences that indicated how many bad drivers there are on the highways many of whom drive well over the speed limits with most of them being in cars/SUV's and believe it or not, very long multi trailer transports. In our recent drive along I-84 through Boise (which highway is fine, it's just the other drivers), we came upon a transport with a VERY wide load, my driver carefully passed it. Shortly after, he commented to me that he couldn't believe his eyes because in his rear view mirror, the driver of that very same VERY WIDE load had pulled out and was passing a long transport truck and there appeared to be only inches between them, "they're going to crash" he said. That's a situation that should never happen, especially in a heavily congested area. We should have phoned the highway patrol to report it but were more concerned about getting ourselves far away from that madness. that's just one incident - there are many others I could share, as I'm sure many of you could too. So, because we have the time to take a detour, it seemed to make sense to check into that option, hence my original post. Thank you to all who have replied thus far.

2oldman
Explorer II
Explorer II
Without further input from OP we don't really know what's going on. Perhaps he's going through too early or too late.
"If I'm wearing long pants, I'm too far north" - 2oldman

DanNJanice
Explorer
Explorer
TUCQUALA wrote:
You Boise Backers have to remember that many people traveling will be from a smaller city or town. Boise has always had road work going on on 84 and most of the on ramps are very short with no merge area. Also, most Boiseites don't know what "merge" means!!! Great combo!!!

When you are pulling a 28 ft trailer in the right lane, and all the other lanes to the left are packed, and a local delivery cab and trailer just tries to do a "Boise merge", do they really expect you to apply your brakes to allow them to merge???? So, think about how you drive vs others in less obnoxious cities and maybe change your habits!!!

I'm sure that the OP has been through the same experiences!!!

Hmmm, seems to me that if all the lanes are full the polite thing to do would be ease up on the gas and open a gap so people can merge on, especially if the ramps are short. But then I also move left a lane when I see a bunch of people coming up an on-ramp.
2015 Jayco 27RLS
2015 F250 PSD

TUCQUALA
Explorer
Explorer
You Boise Backers have to remember that many people traveling will be from a smaller city or town. Boise has always had road work going on on 84 and most of the on ramps are very short with no merge area. Also, most Boiseites don't know what "merge" means!!! Great combo!!!

When you are pulling a 28 ft trailer in the right lane, and all the other lanes to the left are packed, and a local delivery cab and trailer just tries to do a "Boise merge", do they really expect you to apply your brakes to allow them to merge???? So, think about how you drive vs others in less obnoxious cities and maybe change your habits!!!

I'm sure that the OP has been through the same experiences!!!
'16 Outdoors Timber Ridge 280RKS
Reese 1700# Trunnion w/ DualCam HP
'03 EXCURSION XLT V10 4.30 Axles

Edd505
Explorer
Explorer
Insane and dangerous would be LA about any time of day.
2015 F350 FX4 SRW 6.7 Crew, longbed - 2017 Durango Gold 353RKT
2006 F350 SRW 6.0 crew longbed sold
2000 F250 SRW 7.3 extended longbed airbags sold
2001 Western Star 4900EX sold
Jayco Eagle 30.5BHLT sold, Layton 24.5LT sold

goducks10
Explorer
Explorer
Just went thru Boise with a 5er in July this year for the 1st time. Easy peasy.

IdaD
Explorer
Explorer
Traffic in Boise is a piece of cake. Just avoid eastbound 84 in the mornings and westbound 84 in the evenings. Outside of those rush hour periods you should be able to motor thru town with no issues at all. Your proposed detour would be fine and those are all good highways, it would just add some time.
2015 Cummins Ram 4wd CC/SB

2oldman
Explorer II
Explorer II
Insane and dangerous would be Las Vegas.
"If I'm wearing long pants, I'm too far north" - 2oldman

jesseannie
Explorer
Explorer
Insane and dangerous? Wow I live in Boise and drive 84 frequently. It is a multilane high speed freeway. But pulling my travel trailer I drive 60 MPH in the right lane and have never felt unsafe.
Relax and enjoy the trip regardless of which way you go.
Jesseannie

ReneeG
Explorer
Explorer
Being a local, those roads are all good, but that's a lot of re-routing to avoid the traffic through Boise. The traffic has increased and is worse East bound from 7 - 9am, then again worse West bound from 4 - 6 due to commuters.
2011 Bighorn 3055RL, 2011 F350 DRW 6.7L 4x4 Diesel Lariat and Hensley TrailerSaver BD3, 1992 Jeep ZJ and 1978 Coleman Concord Pop-Up for remote camping
Dave & Renee plus (Champ, Molly, Paris, Missy, and Maggie in spirit), Mica, Mabel, and Melton

2oldman
Explorer II
Explorer II
I've driven through Boise for years and found it to be easy.
"If I'm wearing long pants, I'm too far north" - 2oldman