Council vote puts brakes on Curve project

SANDPOINT — A council decision Monday evening has effectively put the brakes on the U.S. 2 Curve project.

Council members voted unanimously at a special session to place their support behind a no-build option that would funnel highway traffic onto Fifth Avenue, which would be converted into a two-way street.

While Idaho Transportation Department and city officials said the vote doesn’t technically kill the Curve and transportation officials retain the option to pursue it in the future, the ITD Board can’t move the project forward without city cooperation. That means members will likely withdraw its $7.5 million funding when they meet later this month.

The decision follows a meeting between city and ITD officials, in which they discussed the possibility of putting the Curve on hold and investigating other options. The result of that meeting was an agreement that both parties would continue to cooperate, and ITD representatives reaffirmed their support in helping the city reclaim its downtown streets.

“The consensus was that (the Curve) was not the right project at the right budget at the right time,” Councilwoman Carrie Logan said.  

With the city unwilling to sign an MOU on the Curve project, local and state attentions turn toward Fifth Avenue. According to ITD District 1 engineer Damon Allen, it will be up to the ITD board to initiate an engineering investigation into the street’s conversion.

“Any operational changes to Fifth Avenue have to function at least as well as the status quo,” Allen said.

To accomplish that, Allen pinpointed several alterations that will probably be necessary for the operation — although nothing is official until ITD launches an official investigation.

Most importantly, the surface will be repainted to accommodate two-way travel and will probably also need a center turning lane. Southbound traffic on Fifth Avenue will probably be barred from turning left onto Pine Street. An additional traffic signal may be necessary, and ITD will almost certainly have to purchase some right-of-way from Panhandle State Bank to widen turning radii at intersections. The operational changes could carry a $1 million baseline budget, Allen estimated, and ITD board members would have to approve those expenditures.

The shelving of the Curve project is a quiet end to a process of work and public involvement that stretches back many years. In 1993, ITD acquired railroad right-of-way to potentially use for a project in the future. Once the completion of the byway drew near, city officials contracted David Evans and Associates for $250,000 to perform a concept study of the project.

However, the Curve ran into trouble when ITD engineers and city officials disagreed on the project scope. ITD representatives emphasized building to the highest traffic projections 20 years down the road, while city officials balked at the potential impact to bike and pedestrian traffic and local businesses.

Having moved past their disagreements, Allen hopes that the recent developments will pave the way for a better working relationship.

“Being able to work with the city in a team environment should be much more productive,” he said.