Roundabout plan moves forward

SANDPOINT — The city moved closer Friday to getting its first roundabout intersection.

The City Council voted during a special meeting to acquire 11,000 square feet of property at the northeast corner of Boyer Avenue and Larch Street, according to Mayor Gretchen Hellar.

The $152,117 acquisition from developer Renova Partners is the last acquisition of land necessary for the roundabout, which is meant to grease the flow of traffic at the heavily used intersection.

The center of the single-lane roundabout will be slightly to the east of the center of the existing right-angle intersection, which is notorious for a continuous stream of north-south traffic that gives few opportunities for east-west motorists to cross.

The city recently obtained foreclosed property at the southeast corner of Larch and Boyer for $185,636 to make room for the circular road junction.

The plan for the home on that corner involves Habitat for Humanity coming in and removing all of the fixtures and components it wants and turning it over to the Sandpoint Fire Department for training purposes.

The home won’t be burned down in a live fire exercise in order to protect adjacent trees.

The cost of constructing the roundabout will be borne by Super 1 Foods, which is building at store at the former Louisiana Pacific lumber mill site at Larch and Boyer. Store officials are shooting for July 4 grand opening.

Planning Director Jeremy Grimm has advised the council construction on the roundabout could begin this spring.

The council initially balked on the roundabout plan amid concerns about backups caused by high traffic volume and compatibility bulky vehicles such as trucks and fire equipment and snowplows.

But the majority of the council has since come around to the concept.

Councilwoman Helen Newton said she was initially opposed to a roundabout at Larch and Boyer, but now supports it. She said the dimensions of the roundabout will provide sufficient clearance for large vehicles and forward-looking traffic modeling indicates there will be no delays, even during peak traffic hours.

“I had to put my faith somewhere,” said Newton, who is among six candidates seeking three four-year seats on the council.

Michael Boge, Jamie Davis, Marsha Ogilvie, John O’Hara and Justin Schuck are also in the running.