Developers and local officials are poised to turn the "blank canvas" south of the Boise Airport into a new South Boise.

The Ada County Highway District wants to get ahead of the curve by identifying and preserving now the new routes to accommodate the increased traffic.

One of the road agency's first priorities is extending Lake Hazel east to Interstate 84 near Micron Technology, providing a key east-west connection south of the freeway.

ACHD recently unveiled the recommended roadway alignment to be incorporated into the Lake Hazel Extension/Gowen Road Relocation Study

The study, which should be completed later this summer, will identify routes to:

• Extend Lake Hazel Road east eight miles from Cole Road to Eisenman Road and the Isaac's Canyon Interchange at Interstate 84.

• Extend Orchard Street south four miles from Gowen Road to the future Lake Hazel Road..

• Extend Production Street south two miles from Gowen Road to the future Lake Hazel Road.

• Extend Eisenman Road south one mile to the future Lake Hazel Road.

Once the study is complete, ACHD can start preserving right of way for the new routes.

Extending Lake Hazel from Cole to Pleasant Valley roads is in ACHD's 2007-2027 capital improvement plan, although construction is not planned until after 2018.

"However, it is believed that development is likely to occur before then so developers will be required to build at least two lanes with their development," Shawn Martin, project manager for the Lake Hazel Extension/Gowen Road Relocation Study, said.

Initially Boise Airport was looking at closing Gowen Road but instead decided to keep Gowen open and build a taxiway over the road from the future third runway to the current runways.

ACHD is planning on building north/south connections between Gowen Road and the future Lake Hazel in case Gowen Road does get closed, Martin said.

In a related but separate project, the city of Boise is planning to move Orchard Street within the next year to the west end of its property between the New York Canal and Gowen Road. Orchard Street will then be extended to the south between Gowen Road and the future Lake Hazel Road.