Weather delays pedestrian path
— Photo by MARY MALONE Paving has started on the pedestrian path along Triangle Drive and Bonner Mall Way, but more than two weeks past deadline still remains unfinished.
PONDERAY — The bicycle and pedestrian path along Bonner Mall Way and Triangle Drive remains unfinished more than two weeks past an already extended deadline.
"We had hoped (the sidewalk) would be substantially complete last week," said Eric Olson, Ponderay city engineer, during Monday's City Council meeting. "It's probably the weather that pushed it off."
Concrete has been poured along a portion of the sidewalk, and Olson said the section that remains could be done in a "day or so" once workers get a break in the weather. The road still needs to be paved along the sides where it is to be widened for the bicycle portion. No timeline is set for the paving and striping of the new bike path is "up for discussion," Olson said, but some council members thought it should wait until spring.
When finished, the bicycle and pedestrian path will increase connectivity along Triangle Drive and the Bonner Mall area between Schweitzer Cutoff Road and the multi-use path on the east side of Hwy 95.
The city of Ponderay contracted the work on the path to J.A. Sewell and Associates, and construction began June 19 with a 75-calendar day deadline. That deadline was extended to the end of September so the city could install fiber-optic infrastructure under the pathway.
The cities of Ponderay, Sandpoint, Kootenai and Dover will soon be connected with fiber Internet. In addition, Fatbeam, a company that installs fiber infrastructure in the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain region, recently entered into an agreement with the Lake Pend Oreille School District to build a 49-mile, high-capacity fiber optic network connecting the district’s 13 facilities.
With the school district's main offices located on Triangle Drive, Fatbeam has expressed interest in the extra conduit the city of Ponderay installed in the area. During Monday's meeting, Olson said it would be up to council and Mayor Steve Geiger whether to lease the conduit or sell it. Three strands of conduit were installed at $3.70 per foot, which Olson said the city needs to recoup at least that amount for the third strand. Councilwoman Karen Engel said she would prefer to see it leased.
"I think we should lease it, because what if Fatbeam no longer is the provider years down the road?" Engel said. "They still own the conduit in our road, so whoever comes in would have to buy it from them or we would have to buy it back."
Other council members agreed with Engel and City Attorney Louis Marshall said it would "make more sense" to lease or franchise the conduit rather than sell it.