City: Project to take longer

SANDPOINT — Construction on Third Avenue between Main Street and Cedar Street will continue longer than anticipated, but officials say the work will not affect parking on Cedar.

The work, funded by the Sandpoint Urban Renewal Agency, is part of an ongoing downtown revitalization project to widen sidewalks, add trees and put in conduit for fiber optic cables, among other improvements.

 The $120,000 project will also introduce a  new form of parking — called back-in diagonal parking — that Public Works Director Kody Van Dyk said is safer and more efficient than the current design.

The entire project was originally scheduled to be completed by mid July, but head contractor Brian Bailey of B.B. Bailey Construction said the work will likely continue until at least mid August.

The construction will periodically block a lane of traffic on the south side of Cedar between Second and Fourth avenues, but Bailey said parking is allowed inside the cone lines and businesses in the area are still open.

“We understand that this may be a hardship for the businesses during this process and we apologize for any inconvenience, however, we endeavor to do the best job possible for the people and the city of Sandpoint,” Bailey said in an e-mail.