PERSPECTIVES
U.S. 2 through Sandpoint
Current ‘Couplet’ reconstruction concept would be devastating to Sandpoint
By Kody Van Dyk Special to the Reader
congestion (it won’t), think of cities that you like to visit. I’ll bet they have functioning downtowns; close-in, walkable neighborhoods; and an efficient grid system. Wide inner-city traffic corridors are likely not part of the charm of your favorite cities. Nearly every city that adds lanes to corridors finds those lanes full almost immediately. My recommendation to the city is to think differently than an ITD engineer. ITD’s mandate is to move vehicles as quickly and safely as possible. They also are uncomfortable with systems that do not involve traffic signals. I have not been able to find even one roundabout on the ITD system, even though the traveling public quickly adapts to roundabouts. I believe the ideal concept for U.S. 2 is a three-lane urban section between Cedar Street and the western city limits of Sandpoint. The three-lane section would utilize “the Curve” between Cedar and Boyer. The Curve follows the existing bicycle path that is adjacent to the parking lots behind Matchwood Brewery and adjacent
Fifth Avenue, parts of Pine Street and the Dover Highway from Boyer Avenue to the western city limits are part of U.S. Highway 2, owned and maintained by the state of Idaho. The Idaho Transportation Department and the city of Sandpoint are discussing reconstruction of the portion of U.S. 2 between Cedar Street and Division Avenue. Apparently, the recent city purchase of Dub’s restaurant furthers these plans. Recently released renderings of the “preferred option” for the U.S. 2 reconstruction show a five-lane highway from Boyer to Division. The Boyer Avenue/U.S. 2 intersection would be enlarged to accommodate trucks and multi-lane turns. Most disturbing, the plans call for a couplet of two — or more — lanes northbound on Fifth Avenue between Pine and Cedar streets, and two or more lanes westbound along the abandoned railroad corridor between Cedar and Boyer. Coupled with this realign-
ment of U.S. 2 is a highway that begins with a new traffic signal at Superior Street and First Avenue, a traffic signal at First Avenue and Pine Street, and a traffic signal at Pine and Fifth Avenue. I call this a “highway” because that is what this corridor will become: a seamless cut-through for commercial and industrial trucks that do not want to take the Sand Creek Byway to its intersection with U.S. 2 in Ponderay. Pine Street will become a blighted commercial desert. Isn’t this what Sandpoint fought hard against when negotiating with ITD to return downtown streets to city jurisdiction? The most interesting thing I can say about the design concept is that it contradicts and changes the mindset of years of Sandpoint transportation planning: • The plan creates high speed corridors instead of a dispersed grid; • The plan uses traffic signals extensively, contradicting a city policy contained in a City Council resolution to forego traffic signals
and utilize energy efficient roundabouts. Roundabouts are safer, are sustainable and allow for smooth flow of traffic. A roundabout at Superior and First Avenue has been in the downtown plan for years. Currently, the city does not own or maintain traffic signals. They are expensive to install and operate. They are also unnecessary; • The plan uses multi-lane highways instead of the policy contained in a City Council resolution to limit corridors to three-lane arterials (two traffic lanes and a center turn lane). The three-lane configuration is the most efficient system for mobility, pedestrian/bicycle usage and neighborhood acceptance. There is a better way forward. One that improves through traffic on U.S. 2. One that prohibits through-truck traffic from the downtown. One that is built to a scale that does not divide the city nor dissuade bicycles and pedestrians from crossing between north and south Sandpoint. Instead of thinking that building more capacity will solve
to Foster’s Crossing. I recommend a roundabout at Boyer and U.S. 2. Fifth Avenue between Pine and Cedar streets would become a local street and remain two-way. Pine Street between First and Fifth avenues would remain two-way. A roundabout would be installed at Superior Street and First Avenue. I believe the direction the city and ITD are heading with reconstructing U.S. 2 will be devastating to Sandpoint. A five-lane highway will feel like Government Way in Coeur d’ Alene. There is no pedestrian/bicycle crossing possible on those five lanes that will be enticing. The discussions that will finalize the design of the U.S. 2 and Superior/Pine corridors are happening now. This is a transformative decision for the city. City Council members listen. Let them know your opinion. Kody Van Dyk, PE (retired), served as Sandpoint Public Works director from 1990-2016.
Sandpoint City Council was right to put the brakes on transportation plan By Brad Smith Reader Contributor The Sandpoint City Council made two important decisions about the Highway 2 corridor at its Feb. 1 meeting. The council unanimously approved the purchase of Dub’s. The council also tabled a proposed amendment to the city’s Multimodal Transportation Plan and instead directed staff to hold public workshops so that residents can contribute their own ideas about the future of the corridor and our community. Both of these decisions could prove pivotal to the future of our quality of life and the ability of city residents to safely bike and walk around town. Marty and Jeralyn Mire, who have owned Dub’s Drive-In for more than 30 years, recently offered to sell their property at the intersection of Boyer Avenue and Highway 2 to the city. The Mires described the fear they endured in 2011, when the Idaho Department of Transportation released a plan
to expand Highway 2 from two to five lanes between Dover and Boyer Avenue. The plan would erase Dub’s and four other Sandpoint businesses from the map. ITD’s proposal wasn’t just alarming for the Mires but for cyclists and pedestrians as well. ITD’s plan would drastically change the way highway traffic is routed between the intersections of Boyer and Highway 2 and Cedar and Fifth. The section of Fifth Avenue between Pine and Cedar would be converted to a one-way street for northbound highway traffic. Southbound traffic on Fifth Avenue would be routed from Fifth and Cedar to the current intersection of Boyer and Highway 2 through a new two-lane, one-way road constructed where the bike path next to the Granary is currently located. Residents who were around back then will remember that the proposed southbound road was infamously named “the Curve” because of its shape. The Curve and the expansion
of Highway 2 would also greatly impact the ability of cyclists and pedestrians to safely cross Highway 2 at Oak Street, Boyer Avenue and Michigan Street. Residents of the neighborhoods west and north of the highway cross at Oak Street to get downtown. Cyclists and pedestrians cross at Boyer to get from south Sandpoint to neighborhoods to the north. School kids use the Boyer crossing and the crossing at Michigan Street next to Dairy Depot to get to Washington Elementary, the Middle School and the High School. While these crossings can definitely be improved, they are much safer than they would be if the Curve is built and the highway is expanded. Over half of the fatalities in the United States in which pedestrians are hit and killed by motorists occur on roads with five or more lanes. Since 2000, two people on foot were hit and killed by motorists in Sandpoint, both on the five-lane section of Fifth Avenue that coincides with Highway 2. When roads and highways are
expanded to four or more lanes, cyclists and pedestrians simply just give up trying to cross them. I grew up in Coeur d’Alene and remember when ITD released plans to expand Highway 95 through Coeur d’Alene from two to four lanes. The department made projections about future traffic volumes on Highway 95 to justify their expansion plans, and when the highway expansion was finished, those traffic volume projections became a self-fulfilling prophecy because the new lanes created more capacity for more cars. In Sandpoint, there’s no need to accelerate plans for the Curve and expansion of Highway 2. ITD’s projections suggest that traffic volumes on Highway 2 are not expected to reach a threshold that would necessitate expansion until 2050. This gives our community plenty of time to contemplate our future and put forth our own vision. The vision we don’t want would be like Highway 95, which now divides Coeur d’Alene in half, and one almost never sees cyclists or
pedestrians attempting to cross it. That’s why the Sandpoint City Council’s decisions to purchase Dub’s and table the amendment to the Multimodal Transportation Plan should be applauded. The purchase of Dub’s will give the city more bargaining power if ITD decides to resurrect the Curve and its highway expansion plans. Councilor Jason Welker correctly observed that the city’s own Multimodal Transportation Plan, which closely mirrors the plans of ITD, does not put the city in a great position to negotiate. The council’s decision to schedule public workshops also represents an opportunity for Sandpoint to put forth a new vision for the Highway 2 corridor and better position itself for future conversations with ITD. Sandpoint City Council was right to put the brakes on these plans. Brad Smith is the North Idaho Director of the Idaho Conservation League. February 16, 2023 / R / 11