Input sought for Main St. facelift

by Cameron Rasmusson Staff Writer
| May 4, 2012 7:00 AM

SANDPOINT — Proposed improvements to the Main Street corridor will be a long time coming, but city officials already want to get the community talking.

With two different concepts for street improvements posted on the city website, Public Works Director Kody Van Dyk hopes to collect opinions on them. The concept renderings are available by visiting www.cityofsandpoint.com and clicking on the “Main Street Improvements” entry just above the city calendar. Opinions should be emailed to consultant Ruen-Yeager and Associates at eolson@ruenyeager.com.

Despite the opportunity to offer local analysis, residents shouldn’t expect to see changes anytime soon. City staff members need to clear a few items from their plate before they can turn their attention to Main Street.

“Right now, there’s no funding for this project,” Van Dyk said. “Nothing will go forward until the Curve is complete.”

Indeed, the U.S. 2 Curve connector that will divert traffic away from downtown streets impacts the Main Street project in several ways. For one thing, project planners have had issues deciding just how to reconcile the Curve with Main Street’s unusual positioning.

“As a diagonal street, Main Street has always created unique spaces where it intersects with the grid,” Van Dyk said.

For another, the Curve timetable will keep Main Street improvements in the planning stage for several years to come. Construction on the Curve will likely not begin until 2013 at the earliest, which means a lot of time separates the Main Street project from potential funding sources.

Nevertheless, city officials have a fairly solid vision for the project, thanks in part to contributions from Ruen-Yeager and Associates. Their renderings present two different options — one lacking a Boyer Avenue connection and the other providing one via a roundabout. With the Curve slated to handle the heaviest commercial traffic, Main Street is free to focus on light local vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists and parking — all accounted for in the concepts.