Sidewalk work continues to languish

SANDPOINT — It was supposed to be a five-day project.

That forecast was made more than three months ago, however.

“They still haven’t come back and finished,” Eric Donenfeld said of the sidewalk-replacement project that continues to languish outside Northwest Autobody & Towing on Michigan Street.

The unfinished work is drawing complaints from customers at his auto repair business and the finished work is starting to erode, according to Donenfeld.

“Now, the whole way down the street the concrete is starting to get broken up,” he said.

Mayor Gretchen Hellar said the contractor’s work is complete, although the city still has to install a narrow strip of asphalt to finish the work, which was funded through a federal Safe Route to Schools grant.

Hellar said a work order was submitted to the street department last month, but it was put on hold so the city could install thermoplastic crosswalk striping after the Idaho Transportation Department did an overlay project on city street which also serve as highway routes.

“We figured that that was much more of a pedestrian safety and a safety issue than just doing that work,” she said in a message to The Daily Bee.

Hellar said completion of the sidewalk replacement work is imminent.

Work on the $120,000 project began last spring but idled when the contractor was pulled off the job to work on Sandpoint’s new roundabout at Boyer Avenue and Larch Street.

That left a trench that was about 5 feet wide and 150 feet long, which hampered business access, Donenfeld said.

The business repeatedly called the city, but never got an answer. The contractor finally finished its part of the job last month and Donenfeld said subsequent calls to city officials to see about completion of the work continue to fall on deaf ears.

“It’s just excuses after excuses,” said Donenfeld.