Sandpoint tackles city transit plan

SANDPOINT — Since the city adopted its 2008 Urban Area Transportation Plan, a number of changes have taken place, from local and regional growth, to roundabouts and the conversion of the one-way streets to two-way.

“So it is essential to update the plan because it is just over 10 years old,” said Sandpoint Public Works Director Amanda Wilson during last week’s City Council meeting. “A lot has changed, including the volume of traffic that we see.”

In accordance with the strategic priorities set by council last year, the city is updating and incorporating a number of master plans this year, one of which is the transportation master plan, Wilson said.

As it is an urban area plan, the current document not only includes Sandpoint, but the cities of Ponderay, Kootenai, Dover and the Independent Highway District, as well as infrastructure owned by the Idaho Transportation Department and Bonner County.

The urban area boundary is set by the U.S. Census, not by the city, Wilson said. It is “significantly” larger than the combined municipality limits because transportation is integrated with the neighboring communities and region.

“What happens in Ponderay can certainly impact what happens in Sandpoint when it comes to transportation,” Wilson said.

The transportation plan is a long-term plan, providing an “overall vision” of how the city will address the transportation system over the next 20 years. The document will enable informed decision-making, establish a clear, integrated vision for all modes of transportation, and define a fiscally responsible and practical implementation plan that will provide a framework for maintaining, managing, and improving transportation infrastructure, Wilson said.

A couple of areas Wilson highlighted included the truck route, which had not been updated since 2001, as well as Division Avenue. There are a lot of safety concerns in the area of Division and Pine, she said, and the city was awarded a grant, which they will receive the funds in July, to do a safety audit on Division. So that will be implemented into the plan as well.

“Bringing it all together, we will take a variety of plans and studies that have been done to date and incorporate them into this next update, for the end result to be a 2020 transportation system plan,” Wilson said.

The goal is to award a consultant contract to assist with the plan by late spring, a draft by the end of the year, and a completed plan by summer 2020. The city will be holding workshops, surveys and other opportunities for public involvement later this year as well, Wilson said.

“There is going to be a lot of opportunity for public input,” she said.

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