Seltice work buttoning up in Coeur d'Alene

COEUR d'ALENE — Upgrades on Seltice Way will be largely completed before work ends for the winter, according to Coeur d’Alene’s engineering department.

Although work next spring includes another coating of asphalt, a pedestrian path on the north side of Seltice Way and most of the big-ticket items on the 1-and-a-half-mile stretch between Huetter and Coeur d’Alene will be done this month.

That means motorists will get their four lanes back, city engineer Chris Bosley said.

“The big push now is to get the lights up,” Bosley said. “We need to get it lit.”

Crews are working to illuminate intersections, which should be completed within the next couple of weeks, and flashing pedestrian lights are also slated to be installed.

The $5.44 million road improvement project, which began last spring, was scheduled to be completed in two years, so the latest report is good news for the city, deputy administrator Sam Taylor said.

“We knew we would get one side done (before winter),” Taylor said. “Instead, we were able to get... both sides open. We’re really happy.”

Aside from keeping east and westbound traffic moving smoothly on a wider thoroughfare, the upgrade will improve the flow of north and southbound traffic in and out of neighborhoods, and at the intersection with the heavily used Atlas Road.

Two roundabouts, which are in various stages of completion, will be finished before the project is winterized.

Landscaping will be completed next spring at both roundabouts, which will also be the site of two public art projects.

Engineer Matt Gillis of Welch Comer Engineering said crews will work continually to pave driveways and entrances to Seltice before winter.

“We’re trying to finish paving as many of these driveways as we can so we don’t have maintenance issues this winter,” Gillis said. “Everything we do this time of year is dependent on the weather.”

Although the project will ultimately be completed in 2018, the scheduled completion date, more work was accomplished this year than anticipated despite some early bumps.

“Seltice Way has an awful lot of traffic,” Gillis said.

It is the only commuter-friendly route between Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene aside from the interstate, which was also under construction last summer, so the work was tough on motorists, he said.

So far, he said, it has turned out well, and how long work continues this year depends on how long asphalt plants will keep churning out their product, he said.

Sooner or later, Gillis said, “They have to make that call.”