Road project draws cheers, concern

PONDERAY— A street project that split this town with a 21-foot-wide trench, 18 inches deep has drawn both concern and cheers from town residents.

The project, part of a two-pronged summer work plan that started last week, should be completed by Friday.

Although most residents are glad to see improvements on Birch Street, which holds together their small residential downtown like a linchpin, others are concerned that emergency provisions were not in place before starting the two-week job.

The work began, said Eric Brubaker, Ponderay city planner, with city employees including Brubaker going door to door, five days before groundbreaking.

They handed out flyers outlining the project that included sewer work and the reconstruction of Birch Street.

One thing they forgot, Brubaker concedes, is making provisions for emergencies.

Homeowners along Birch Street could not access their driveways during part of the construction because the entire street was removed, leaving a trench almost two feet deep.

“They can’t get out of their driveways,” Brubaker said. “It’s too deep of a drop off.”

He advised residents who are impacted by the work to park on a side street, or in the parking lot of City Hall, which is a block east of Birch Street.

Brad Mitton, chief of the Northside Fire District — its main station is in Ponderay — proposed a makeshift ramp that allowed emergency vehicles to drive into the trench that was once the street.

“When we realized it, at that point we talked to the city,” Mitton said.

Members of local emergency services met with city officials and came up with the ramp concept. Using the ramp, an ambulance would still have front-door access to homes along the street.

“It would have been nice to have planned for emergency services,” he said. “So everybody is on the same page.”

Dixie Kent, who lives on the corner of Birch and Fourth, is in a wheel chair awaiting a hip replacement.

She was a little concerned when workers from Interstate Concrete and Asphalt started tearing up the street, she said, but she is glad the work is being done.

Heidi Lebret, who takes care of Dixie, her mother-in-law, is elated.

“It’s great,” Lebret said.

The old street had a thin crust of pavement over dirt, she said. The crust was damaged by frost, it had waves and wreaked havoc on cars.

“They are laying a good bed down for the pavement,” she said. “It’s going to be better than bouncing like a riding bull.”

Residents along the street were given the option of upgrading utility hookups while the work was being done.

Bruce Bangeman has been parking his pickup a half block away as the work progresses.

Once it is completed, it will be one of the few streets in Ponderay that meet a street standard for width and aprons, he said.

“They are bringing this part of the street back to code,” Bangeman said. “So, it’s a good thing.”

Richard Scott lives on Cedar Street a block away. Dividing the city with construction is a temporary inconvenience he can live with, he said.

“I love the idea they are fixing the street,” Scott said. “It needed it.”

Crews yesterday laid rock and gravel in the trench and compacted it with a dozer. By afternoon, cars were driving on a portion of Birch Street. The street work should be completed by Saturday, construction workers said.

The $103,612 Birch Street job is one of two recent street projects here. A $21,252 chip seal project on six blocks of Elm Street was completed earlier this summer.