Transit issues focus of public outreach, meetings
Photo courtesy of Amanda Wilson, Sandpoint Director of Infrastructure and Development
SANDPOINT — As shoppers are seeking bargains during Saturday’s Crazy Days sidewalk sale, Urban Area Transportation Plan representatives hope they will stop by and learn a little more about area transit issues.
From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 30, UATP members, which include the Independent Highway District, and cities of Dover, Sandpoint, Ponderay, and Kootenai, will be seeking public input at the Jeff Jones Town Square, Third and Oak, during Sandpoint’s annual Crazy Days event.
UATP members said they are hopeful Saturday’s outreach will increase public input for their business meeting on Monday, Aug. 1. This meeting will take place from 12-4 p.m. at the county administrative building and, while open to the public, Amanda Wilson, who sits on the UATP, said they would prefer the public provide their input Saturday at Crazy Days.
The UATP also has an online survey. To share your input, go to bit.ly/UATPsurvey. For information about the plan, go to bit.ly/SandpointUATP.
The meeting follows Sandpoint City Council’s push to update the city’s transportation plans this January. Amanda Wilson, Sandpoint infrastructure and development director, said the city’s plan needed updating.
“Typically you’d receive a [UATP] every five to 10 years, so it is time to review this one,” Wilson said in January.
At Wednesday’s Bonner County Area Transportation Team, Wilson said that the UATP was about 12 years old. The UATP update was expected to be completed Aug. 1, 2023, a full year after Monday’s meeting.
In addition to the UATP outreach, Idaho Transportation Department officials are holding an invitation-only event at Columbia Plaza on Aug. 17 from 2-4 p.m.
The public is invited to attend the transportation department's business meeting on Aug. 18 for ITD's District 1, which encompasses the five northernmost counties in Idaho. For details on the meeting, go online to ITD’s website.