Centennial Trail Near Completion Paving Of Final Link Can Begin If Weather Just Cooperates

Construction is under way on a stretch of the Centennial Trail between Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene, providing the final paved link on the 23-mile pedestrian and bicycle beltway in Kootenai County.

Near the Huetter rest stop on Interstate 90, subcontractors are cutting through a tangle of trees standing in harm’s way. Concrete foundations, to support bridges spanning Atlas and Huetter roads, are already in place.

With recent showers, however, mud is oozing everywhere along the 3.5-mile route that parallels I-90.

“It got so sloppy the scraper couldn’t scrape,” said Josh Steiner, astride a huge roller he’s using to smooth out the trail bed. “With this mud, it doesn’t compact as well.”

And that’s not the worst of it.

“My nose has been doing nothing but run,” said Steiner, who works for Coeur d’Alene-based Contractors Northwest. “I’m getting sick of this weather, that’s for sure.”

Officials with the Idaho Department of Transportation, which is overseeing the project, said work is right on schedule despite Mother Nature’s refusal to cooperate.

“The contract is until the end of August, but it certainly could be earlier,” said Barbara Babic, a state field surveyor. “About half of the rough grades are finished, and most of the clearing work is completed.”

The $1.2 million project was originally expected to be completed in 1995, before running into financial obstacles. Then, a federal grant almost slipped through the Centennial Trail Foundation’s fingers when the city of Post Falls couldn’t come up with some $70,000 in matching funds.

But last year, retired timber executive Dick DeArmond emerged as a good Samaritan and gave $35,000 to the cause, the largest single donation ever to the trail in Idaho.

Now, with completion of the final paved link on the horizon, Coeur d’Alene City Parks director and longtime Centennial Trail Foundation member Doug Eastwood agreed this will be a big step to realizing his group’s dreams.

This is something that Centennial Trail backers saw as worthwhile when they began 10 years ago, Eastwood said, “and we stuck with it.

“There are always little things that could pop up, but I would expect by late July or early August (crews) will have it done,” Eastwood said. “I think it’ll see use before this season is over.”

The new trail section will be 12-feet wide, and will run from Atlas Road past the Huetter rest stop on its way to state Highway 41. There, users must obey traffic signals at the intersection of the highway and Seltice Way before continuing along the trail into the Ponderosa neighborhood.

Aside from that intersection, the stretch of trail is “Class 1” - meaning that nowhere will users encounter interruptions from other traffic.

Once construction is finished here, it will free up Eastwood and other foundation members to deal with other trail hot spots, which include finding a solution for the crowded Northwest Boulevard route in Coeur d’Alene. Pedestrians and cyclists using the Centennial Trail there presently must share the road with automobiles.

“There’s not enough room on the shoulder,” Eastwood said.

With the completion of this latest stretch, the intersection at state Highway 41 also will be under scrutiny as trail officials evaluate how to make it as safe as possible, Eastwood said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WHERE IT IS The new trail section will be 12-feet wide and will run from Atlas Road, past the Huetter rest stop on Interstate 90, to state Highway 41 at the intersection with Seltice Way before continuing along the trail into the Ponderosa neighborhood.