Talks continue on 'Curve'

SANDPOINT — Time is a factor in reaching a compromise for the U.S. 2 Curve design.

According to city, state and ITD representatives, stakeholders all said they are confident they’ll be able to reach common ground on the road project. However, Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, said it’s important that all parties settle their differences before too much time passes.

“If projects don’t go to final design in a year for whatever reason, that money gets moved elsewhere,” Keough said. “That’s just the way it works.”

With many unfunded projects around the state, Keough said there are many legislators seeking transportation funding for their constituents. Furthermore, with the completion of the byway and the expansion of U.S. 95 in Ponderay, she added it is becoming tougher to argue that North Idaho is an under-served area of the state — especially with a third of the Legislature turning over in the last election.

“I think it’s important to the Curve project that everyone recognize this is a major state and national highway we’re talking about,” Keough said.

Both city and ITD representatives, however, believe that the final design is within reach. Although differing visions for the project slowed progress at a meeting earlier this month, ITD design office member Justin Wuest said his team appreciates the city’s concerns.

“The city is stakeholder in this and a large one at that,” Wuest said. “We want to continue to see a good working relationship between them and us.”

However, Wuest also pointed out that as a state and national highway, the final design has to meet certain requirements. Designing to traffic projections for both commercial and general vehicles is one of those requirements, and the current preferred design, with its signal-controlled intersection and multiple turning and travel lanes, is the best shot at meeting those numbers. Planners are also concerned that ITD will ultimately be the one responsible if the Curve’s traffic capacity becomes problematic down the road.

“We hired David Evans and Associates, who handled the concept work for the city, and have a pretty extensive (traffic) model in place,” Wuest said. “We’re pretty confident in our product.”

City officials, on the other hand, are concerned about the impact a large roadway will have on pedestrian and bicycle safety as well as the convenience of navigating the town. Council members are also very much in favor of a roundabout intersection at U.S. 2 and Boyer, which they believe will allow for a smaller-sized piece of infrastructure with slower traffic. However, as the final puzzle piece necessary for the city to reclaim control of its downtown streets, City Planner Jeremy Grimm said everyone knows a successful relationship with ITD is critical.

“I’m very optimistic that ITD designers have heard our concerns and that we’ll be able to reach some kind of agreement,” he said.

The conversation over the Curve is set to continue 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the regular council meeting, where ITD planners will give a presentation on the project’s current status. The meeting will likely be an important one to attend for anyone with an interest in the Curve, officials said.

Council members will also consider a resolution for an official design preference. This proposed preference eliminates concrete medians north and south on Boyer, uses a non-signalized intersection control at U.S. 2 and Boyer, gives equal priority to cars, bikes and pedestrians with a top speed of 25 mph, includes a Federal Highway Administration analysis about the viability of a roundabout design, makes use of public lands to defer impact to local businesses and embraces active participation by city officials in the design process.