Road project en route to early finish
Paving of the intersection corners along Fifth Avenue is scheduled for Sept. 26. The Fifth Avenue work should be mostly completed by the end of October. —Photo by MARY MALONE
SANDPOINT — Originally scheduled through mid-November, the bulk of the Fifth Avenue road work should be complete by the end of October, said Jeff Spohn with the Idaho Transportation Department in an email to the Daily Bee.
The work on Fifth Avenue between Pine and Cedar streets is part of a two-way highway plan to allow traffic to travel both directions along that section of the Highway 2/200 corridor. The traffic light at Fifth and Pine will be removed and a new one installed at Fifth and Church.
"Probably the biggest area of concern for the contractor, ITD, the city of Sandpoint and the traveling public will be when we are ready to make the transition from current traffic configuration to the two-way configuration," Spohn said in the email.
ITD is reviewing ideas and suggestions collaboratively with city officials and the contractor in an effort to have as little impact as possible to the traveling public.
Restriping the road is scheduled to begin Oct. 18 for a duration of seven days. He said this work will have to be done during daylight hours for the pavement to reach the correct temperature for proper adhesion to the traffic paint.
"Prior to painting, the existing striping must be removed and temporary traffic channelization must be installed," Spohn said. "There are a lot of issues to take into consideration for this relatively short duration of work. Probably more so for this activity than the whole project collectively."
Some work on the traffic light, such as signal timing and advanced detection system alignment, could extend past the end of October, but will not have much impact on traffic. The removal and replacement of the signal controller cabinet is scheduled for December, but again, will have little traffic impact.
The corners of intersections are currently being reassembled to adjust for the two-way traffic and the replacement of sidewalks and pedestrian ramps has begun. The work on the corners will be completed by the first week of October, depending on the weather, Spohn said. Paving of the intersections is scheduled for Sept. 26.