Bike/ped path behind schedule
—Photo by MARY MALONE The bicycle and pedestrian path in Ponderay, along Triangle Drive and Bonner Mall Way, is running a bit behind schedule, but paving should begin soon.
PONDERAY — As deadline for construction of the bicycle and pedestrian path along Triangle Drive and Bonner Mall Way in Ponderay draws near, it appears it may not finish on time.
"Their end date was extended to the end of this month and I think they are a little bit behind schedule," said city engineer Erik Olson.
The city contracted the work on the path to J.A. Sewell and Associates. Olson said he has not been out on site this week, but believes Sewell workers are close to pouring concrete for the sidewalk.
Some traffic flagging may occur when the workers begin paving the path because they will be widening the road, dropping it to one lane in the near future, Olson said. Exact dates are unknown at this time.
Olson said the purpose of the bicycle and pedestrian path is to "improve pedestrian and bicycle connectivity between Schweitzer Cutoff Road, along Bonner Mall Way and through the mall, connecting to the multi-use path on the east side of U.S. 95."
The construction of the path started on June 19 with a 75-calendar day deadline. Olson said the deadline was extended to the end of September so the city could install fiber-optic infrastructure.
The cities of Sandpoint, Ponderay, Kootenai, Dover and the Lake Pend Oreille School District will all be "lit" with the super-fast Internet in the near future. Olson said Ponderay does not have a user for the fiber yet, but the infrastructure is being installed while the path construction is underway so it will be easy to light up in the future.