Bypass work to affect Cedar St. Bridge access

SANDPOINT - The pedestrian walkway at the east end of the Cedar Street Bridge will cease to exist in a few weeks as work continues on the U.S. Highway 95 bypass.

Demolition of three segments of the wooden walkway, which connects the end of the bridge to Railroad Avenue, is slated to start the week of Jan. 19. The work will seal off that end of the bridge to prevent pedestrians from entering the bypass construction zone on the east side of Sand Creek.

Pedestrians will be unable to use the bridge to access the east side of the creek and motorists will no longer be able to park on Railroad Avenue and access the bridge for at least two years, according to Bob Clucas, senior project manager for Parsons RCI, the Sand Creek Byway's lead contractor.

Ultimately, a staircase and a handicap-accessible ramp will be installed so people walking across the bridge from the west can access the eastern bank of the creek, where a permanent shoreline extension is being built. Conversely, the stairs will allow people on the east side of the creek to gain access to the bridge.

Once the demolition commences, those heading to the Sandpoint Depot will have to use the Bridge Street Bridge. The bootleg parking areas on Railroad Avenue will effectively vanish, although a new, legal parking area will be established at the former site of the Lakeside Inn.

In other bypass construction news:

n Excavation and the installation of a crane pad will continue north of the Idaho Transportation Department's former snow storage area so piers to hold up the southbound off-ramp and the mainline bridge can be erected.

n A temporary shoreline extension at the former Lakeside Inn site will be created so workers can begin driving sheet piling for a coffer dam, where another set of piers will be constructed. The temporary fill will be removed later. Work for those piers is also scheduled to commence the week of Jan. 19.

Trucks hauling in the temporary fill will use Bridge Street. The city granted ITD permission last month to use the bridge so Parsons could capitalize on the deep drawdown of Lake Pend Oreille, which influences the water level in the creek.

"Our goal is to get as much low-pool work done as we can," Clucas said.

Another deep drawdown of the lake is not expected for another several years.

This spring, a new construction access road will be built on the east side of the creek, which will allow workers to gain access to the construction site from the north.

n The driving of a series of test pile at the snow storage will continue, as will the removal of vegetation on the east side of the creek. The installation of sheet pile for the shoreline extension between the Bridge and Cedar street bridges is slated to start the week of Jan. 26.

The weekly construction update can be found on the ITD Web page. Point your browser to www.itd.idaho.gov/project/d1 and look under the "Projects Currently Under Construction" header. Call the transportation office at 265-0897 if you have project questions.