Bonner County ponders road levy

SANDPOINT — Bonner County voters may be asked this spring if they support a levy to fund road improvements.

The revelation was made during a Bonner County Area Transportation meeting on Wednesday.

Bonner County Road & Bridge Director Steve Klatt said the levy question could be put before voters in May, although a date has not been formally specified. The levy's impact on Bonner County landowners could be up to $55 per $100,000 of assessed value, according to Klatt.

"That's up to commissioners to lock in," Klatt told BCATT, which brings representatives of the county, incorporated cities and other road jurisdictions together to discuss transportation matters.

Klatt said the levy is expected to generate approximately $3.6 million.

Matt Mulder, the county's staff engineer, said Road & Bridge is still prioritizing which routes would be first in line for levy funding to pay for hard surfacing if voters approve the levy. They include East Dufort, Spades, Old Priest River, North Boyer, South Center Valley and Shadow Mountain roads, in addition to Park Lane.

"The first-year roads, we’re really fine tuning those and getting some costs in place so that we have firm numbers to take the voters here in the near future," Mulder said during BCATT's meeting.

In other county road-and-bridge news, the county is hoping to pave Woodland Drive, a pothole-strewn track at the foot of Schweitzer Mountain. The county initially planned to have that work done last year, but novel coronavirus relief funding was not as robust as initially forecasted.

"We're thinking we might actually get that done this year," said Mulder.

Klatt said work is also planned to repair slumping on Eastriver Road near Priest River. The project is anticipated to go out to bid this spring.

"That'll be a sizable project that will impact that connection route for the course of the summer," said Klatt.

Klatt added that the county will be placing emphasis on roads in Blanchard this summer.

"We hope to be crushing in our own pit and doing road work out there that reflects the growth that we're seeing in the Blanchard area," he said.

Meanwhile, Road & Bridge and the Bonner County Planning Department are huddling to find a solution to the single access point dilemma at Ponder Point and Whiskey Jack area. Residents have been clamoring for years for a secondary ingress/egress because an at-grade railroad crossing on Kootenai Bay Road can prevent emergency responders from accessing the area or thwart evacuation in the event of a wildfire or other calamity.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com or followed on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.