Pair questions 'Safe Routes' crosswalk

 SANDPOINT — Two Sandpoint business owners say a proposed pedestrian safety project will financially damage their businesses if it moves forward unchanged.

Jay Van Den Berg, owner of Dairy Depot, and Steve Navarre, co-owner of Steve’s Import Auto Service, are concerned a pedestrian-activated light at Michigan Street and Highway 2 would hurt access to their businesses and are upset they weren’t involved in the planning process.

The $77,825 project, funded by a federal Safe Routes to School grant, would severely alter access points to both businesses, said Van Den Berg and Navarre.

The project would limit accessibility to Steve’s Import Auto Repair solely to eastbound travelers on Highway 2, and would block off a 60-foot section of Idaho Transportation Department right-of-way that Van Den Berg said would impede the flow of customers.

The plan, which would give pedestrians a sanctioned lane to cross Highway 2, was designed by the Sandpoint Public Works department based on input from various local school administrators, the Pedestrian Advisory Committee and a representative from the Safe Routes to School advisory committee.

Both Van Den Berg and Navarre are in favor of offering pedestrians a safe point to cross the highway, but said the plan is imprudent at its proposed location.

“There was absolutely no communication about what the plan was or how it would affect my business,” said Van Den Berg, who said he was only made aware of the project when he went to the city to file a non-related building permit.

The city’s lack of communication, whether perceived or real, has been a hot topic for months, most notably in its dealing with the defunct 2008 Local Improvement District.

City Councilman Michael Boge said the city has repeatedly failed to communicate with citizens and uses the Highway 2 crosswalk project as an example of that lack of communication.

“To me it’s very simple. When an idea comes up and we’re moving forward with it, at that point we need to go out and talk to the community,” Boge said. “We wouldn’t be in this sidewalk fiasco if we had communicated in the first place. And we somehow don’t seem to learn that lesson.”

Boge said he would support a plan to alter the crosswalk design to avoid hurting the businesses, even if it meant losing the grant money.

“($77,825) is a lot of money, but I would bet those two business will easily lose that much money in one year because of what’s about to take place,” Boge said. “And that’s only one year, those guys are going to lose that much each year from then on.”

The design could be altered, said Public Works Director Kody Van Dyk, but only with ITD and City Council approval.

“The city’s not married to one specific location. If another one works we’ll design it there,” Van Dyk said. “We’re not advocating one way or another. Whatever the council wants us to do, we’ll do.”

Funds for the project revert back to the Safe Routes to School program if the project is not completed by year’s end, but Mayor Gretchen Hellar could request an extension while designs are changed and resubmitted to ITD.

Hellar said she is open to the idea of requesting more time, but only with the cooperation of the Lake Pend Oreille School District officials.

“I wouldn’t just ask for an extension. (The school district) would have to be involved and I’d have to get their approval,” Hellar said. “But if it meant the difference between no crossing on Highway 2 or a crossing in a different location, I can’t believe they wouldn’t want an extension to see if something could be worked out.”

Safe Routes to School advisory committee member Molly O’Reilly has been involved with the project since its inception, and said she understands the concerns of Van Den Berg and Navarre, but believes the project’s current location best suits the needs of pedestrians.

“If you want to serve pedestrians, you serve them where they’re walking. And people walk in a straight line down Michigan from one side of the highway to the other, so that’s the ideal place from the standpoint of catching the pedestrians where they are,” O’Reilly said.

O’Reilly said most people will automatically travel the shortest distance from point A to point B, so even if the city diverts the crosswalk to a different location on the highway, the majority of pedestrians will still cross at Michigan.

Even with her belief that the Michigan location is best, O’Reilly is open to hearing different ideas about the project.

“I think it’s important that we provide a safe crossing point in that general area,” she said.

The Public Works Department is hopeful that a crossing will be in place in time for school, but any plan needs council approval before construction begins.