ITD reallocates Curve funding

by Cameron Rasmusson Staff Writer
| June 20, 2013 7:00 AM

SANDPOINT — The U.S. 2 Curve is officially dead — at least for the foreseeable future.

While the Idaho Transportation Board kept the option to reconsider the Curve if considered necessary in the future, members ended development on the project Wednesday by removing its funding. About $5 million of the total $7.5 million will remain in District 1 to rebuild a pair of bridges in the Silver Valley. The rest of the money will be spread around the state, funding one project in District 2, three projects in District 4 and one project in District 6.

“The agenda item was pretty short and sweet,” ITD District 1 business manager Scotty Fellom said. “They only spent about 10 minutes on it altogether.”

The decision marks the formal end of the Curve, but the outcome was a foregone conclusion after city council members decided to not sign an agreement with ITD about the size and scope of the project. Work on developing the Curve concept stalled when city officials said they were concerned about pedestrian and bicyclist safety and business impact.

City officials originally planned on using the Curve in conjunction with the Sand Creek Byway to regain control of its downtown streets, which are managed by ITD as a highway. As a longtime city goal, regaining downtown streets will allow officials to reshape the area into a central attraction for tourists and residents.

Hopes for regaining downtown streets now shift to implementing operational changes on Fifth Avenue.

This no-construction option would involve turning the street into a highway with two-way traffic flow and several other changes.

The approach would have to at least preserve the status quo in traffic capacity to be considered by ITD, according to District 1 lead engineer Damon Allen.

According to Fellom, the board didn’t discuss that possibility much at the Wednesday meeting. Instead, the members are examining potential costs of the proposal and will return to the matter next month.

“They want to keep an open dialogue with the city on this,” he said.