Reconstruction won't benefit street's residents

How many of you are aware that the city has planned to reconstruct Washington Avenue from Main to Walnut — a six-block area. “The plan for Washington Avenue is to construct a safe street that is enjoyable for residents and more easily maintained by the city.”

None of the residents affected by this plan were aware of it until a couple of weeks ago when they walked out into (what they thought were) their yards to find white lines painted on them. On questioning what this was about, they were told that they represented the location of sidewalks the city was going to put in.

This reconstruction will include sidewalks (five feet on the west side and 10 feet on the east side, with parkways between the sidewalks and the curbs.) These sidewalks will be within two feet of some of the homes’ front doors and will eliminate the majority of the driveways currently being used by the residents for off-street parking.

On Aug. 3, a “we want your input” meeting was held at City Hall with Public Works Committee members and residents of the effected homes. We, the residents and owners, learned the main reason for the plan was to manage the “storm water management area,” with a neighborhood benefit of “traffic calming from narrowed streets.”

Lots of traffic on Washington? Narrowed streets? If this plan goes through as proposed, the majority of the residents will have to park their vehicles, boats, and motorhomes on the street. Kind of takes away the widening of the streets. Will really be lots of fun in the winter with the odd/even parking due to snow removal.

All of the residents/owners present objected to the sidewalks being included in the plan; however, were in agreement with the city’s plan to install the curbs. (If you drive around the residential areas you can see curbs currently in place with no sidewalks.) If there were lots of pedestrian traffic on Walnut, maybe the sidewalks could be justified.

Oh, I forgot, the reason for the 10-foot sidewalk was that it was to include a bike path. Neat, a six-block bike path.

DAVE HANCOCK

Sandpoint