Rathdrum Businesses Worried About Road Plan

A plan to close one street at the entrance to downtown is one thing, residents said.

But taking a left turn off another street will rip away Rathdrum’s chance to revitalize Main Street, local business people said.

Rathdrum City Council members are embarking on a plan to improve several downtown intersections, with help from the Idaho Transportation Department and the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway. Improvements mean rearranging roads that lead into downtown.

A workshop was arranged Wednesday night so the City Council could better understand a project it had favored - until now. The council discovered a larger problem: Downtown will be a place to avoid while drivers will be in a traffic mess on state Highway 53.

The reason for the changes is safety, officials said.

“A lot of this has been - I don’t know if mandated is the word - but it’s close,” Mayor Tawnda Bromley said.

Yet, many residents and businesses said the safety measures aren’t going to help anyone. Instead, they said, the plan that includes closing one railroad crossing and eliminating left turns on state Highway 53 is one step closer to killing downtown business by keeping people away.

Council members found no easy answers Wednesday night.

The railroad will begin installing a second track next year.

Closing Mill Road’s left lane onto Highway 53, toward Spokane, will force drivers to find detours close by.

“When (drivers) want to go to Spokane by hook or crook, they’ll do it,” council member Joe Hassell said. “Frankly, I’d do it.”

With the left turn closed, it will take a mile-and-a-half detour to get back to the same spot to go the other way - an added obstacle for drivers headed to Spokane. Quick shortcuts and frustrated drivers pose other safety problems on nearby blocks and state Highway 41.

“Now we realize it’s inevitable,” said Vic Holmes, who just bought a Main Street building where he operates a pawn shop. “We keep debating how we are going to survive here.”

Any sort of barred access will keep customers away, Holmes said.

Rearranging access to Main Street is the final part of an ambitious revitalization plan - an effort few people support, said Jim Ochenkoski, a member of the city’s Chamber of Commerce and Rathdrum’s Gem Community advisory committee.

Last month, a council vote was tied on whether the city should apply for a $500,000 federal grant meant to repair Main Street’s water line, street and sidewalks, and to install street lights. Mayor Bromley broke the tie, voting in favor of applying for the grant.

So now the city’s improving Main Street, but cutting off access to it, Ochenkoski said.

The city’s “priorities are misplaced,” Ochenkoski said. Officials should think about extending Main Street west to Greensferry Road first, so drivers will pass downtown after Mill Street is closed.

Several council members agreed Main Street’s extension should be fixed before the highway’s intersections are closed.

“Let’s figure out what’s more important, curbs and sidewalks here or extending Main Street,” Councilman Brian Steele said. “If we put the revitalization on hold, couldn’t we use that money to put toward (extending)?”

Plans to close the intersections first, then find money to extend Main Street in at least two years, will go forward, unless council members decide to take action next month, public works director Bob Lloyd said.

Despite losing Main Street’s vigor, Rathdrum’s population has doubled in the past 10 years, from 2,000 in 1990 to more than 4,000 today.

Holmes said city officials should rethink their decisions and extend Main Street. “To me, if they put traffic on the road, Main Street would revitalize on its own.”

This sidebar appeared with the story: BACKGROUND Safety plan

Close McCartney Street’s railroad crossing.

Improve crossing at Mill Street, including adding crossing arms.

Improve Mill Street’s intersection at state Highway 53, but close its left lane onto the highway.

Install a pedestrian underpass across from Mountain View High School.

Build sidewalks and fencing to direct pedestrians to Mill Street’s crossing or the pedestrian tunnel.

Build an underpass for vehicles west of town and east of Greensferry Road, eliminating the railroad crossing at Greensferry Road and realigning a new section.