Sandpoint street projects continue on schedule

SANDPOINT — "Sorry for the mess," states signs on Cedar and Oak streets, as roads and sidewalks have been torn up in the midst of the many construction projects around town.

The Cedar Street construction is currently on schedule, said city Public Works director Amanda Wilson, and crews will soon be moving on to the next portion of the project between Third and Fourth avenues.

"Mid next week we are going to be doing the switch," Wilson said, adding that crews will still be wrapping up work on sidewalks between Second and Third avenues after moving on to the next portion.

The first portion of the project has been underway between Second and Third avenues since late May. As they work in one-block sections, each block is expected to take about a month to complete. Before reopening a block to motorists, the gravel road surface will be painted to identify travel lanes and delineate parking. Upon completion of construction, a final closure of Cedar Street will be take place from Second to Fifth avenues for approximately 10 days to allow for final paving, striping and landscaping.

The Cedar Street improvements between Second and Fifth avenues are the first phase of the city's downtown revitalization project. Crews are removing and replacing all elements of the street from storefront to storefront. These elements include the street and sidewalks, replacing them with wider sidewalks and bulbouts in the intersections, and adding new trees, bike racks, benches, trash receptacles, lighting and storm gardens. With the storm gardens, seating walls will be added near the bulbouts on each corner.

In addition to the work on Cedar, Oak Street remains closed between Fifth and Boyer avenues as part of the city's bike path construction project. The project was originally identified as a corridor in the The Downtown Streets Plan and Design Guide, which was published in 2012, as city staff began looking at links to the lake for multi-modal opportunities. The design for those improvements include a bike path, upgrades to the curb, gutter and sidewalk between Fourth and Boyer avenues. Wilson said crews will not be working across the intersection of Fifth Avenue until after the Fourth of July. The project is expected to wrap up in August, she said.

A maintenance and rehabilitation project has Ella Avenue down to dirt as well, and Wilson said crews will begin paving the street this week. The project area spans from Pine Street to the Litehouse production facility north of Chestnut Street.

In addition to the overlay, the project also includes upgrades to some of the curbs along Ella.

Wilson said the sewer project on First Avenue, which was initially scheduled to begin in August after the Festival at Sandpoint, has been delayed until after Labor Day. The sewer project began last year, running from just south of Lake Street to north of Church Street on First. Beginning from where crews left off, this year's construction will extend up First, rounding the corner on Cedar and ending at Second Avenue.

Traffic will be detoured during the construction.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.