Joshua Kind Wrote:
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> I would have to say Lewiston Grade and White Bird
> are about the worst. And for the more adventurous
> try taking the old spiral highway down into
> Lewiston.

These two grades are living testimoney to the politicization of the Idaho DOT. The 7% grade on the lower half of the new Lewiston Hill could have been reduced to 6% if they had built the top half of the grade starting in Hatwai canyon rather than cresting that ridge - guess they felt the need for a scenic viewpoint of Lewiston was more important than reducing the severity of the grade.

And of course Whitebird Hill only exists because the city of Grangeville protested the idea that US 95 should bypass their town. The original "new" alignment was supposed to go down Rock Creek canyon just south of Cottonwood straight to the Salmon River, which would have reduced the ruling grade to 5% and shortened the route between Cottonwood and Riggins by 10 miles.

As for Cabbage Hill, my understanding is that alignment was unavoidable unless they wanted to add significant mileage to I-84 by roughly parallelling the UP via Gibbon.