It’s going to be a bumpy summer

It’s nearing summertime, with its sizzling temperatures, baking car rides and ubiquitous street repairs and traffic delays.

Area towns are setting up construction zones for street projects ranging from repaving pockmarked surfaces to installing traffic signals and roundabouts.

In Post Falls, Rathdrum and Spirit Lake, city officials say they have completed or planned more than $2.3 million in street repairs and upgrades.

Post Falls

The city is planning two large projects this summer to overhaul Fourth Avenue and to install a roundabout at Poleline Avenue and Syringa Street.

City officials herald the $1.3 million Fourth Avenue project as a way to enliven the city center and make it more pedestrian-friendly.

The project, extending from Spokane Street to Idaho Street, involves repaving pockmarked sections and widening two blocks, as well as installing street lighting, curbs and benches.

The city collaborated with the Post Falls Urban Renewal Agency, which contributed more than half the cost. The city also was awarded a $500,000 state grant.

For the Poleline and Syringa roundabout, the city is working with the developer of the Fieldstone subdivision, said city engineer Bill Melvin.

“Traffic has increased along that whole Poleline section,” he said, adding that a roundabout will keep traffic moving.

Construction is expected to begin in June or July, Melvin said.

The cost of the city’s portion of the project is approximately $100,000, he said.

Post Falls also is planning a menu of street repairs, totaling $130,000 for the equivalent of a milelong section, said Jim Porter, the city’s street and fleet superintendent.

This month and into the beginning of June, city crews will patch and prepare streets for chip-seal projects this summer, Porter said.

Starting in mid-June, larger projects will include repaving – or overlaying – a handful of streets to improve durability and the texture of the roadways for smoother driving.

Those projects include:

“ Railroad Avenue from Spokane to Lincoln streets

“ Ponderosa Boulevard from Greensferry Road to Spencer Street

“ 17th Avenue from Idaho Street to Lincoln

“ 16th Avenue, 335 feet west of Idaho

Most projects will take six to seven weeks to complete, and drivers should expect delays and short road or lane closures, Porter said.

The streets will remain open to local traffic, he said.

Rathdrum

The city of Rathdrum is planning a variety of projects this summer, including installing another traffic light on state Highway 41.

The Boekel Road light will cost approximately $500,000 and is being paid for mostly by residential developers, city officials said.

Crews are moving utilities now, said Chet Anderson, the city’s public works director.

Drivers have difficulty getting across the busy highway at the intersection, Anderson said. The light also will provide a safer crossing for pedestrians.

City crews also plan to spiff up pedestrian pathways connecting existing paths along state Highways 41 and 53. That work is expected to cost about $190,000 and may begin in late summer.

The project is part of a continuing effort to fill in gaps in pathways.

“We have a lot of pieces around, and we’re trying to hook them up,” Anderson said. The city is targeting several sections of roads for repairs, including Washington Street, Five Point and Ohio Street, city officials said. Costs total about $100,000, and construction may begin in August, Anderson said.

The older surfaces have a weak base, requiring the roads to be ripped up and reconstructed, he said.

The city picks sections, and “we do what we can afford each year,” Anderson said.

Portions of the streets will be closed, he said.

Spirit Lake

The city worked last month to fill cracks in streets damaged by winter weather, city Clerk Barbara Brown said. That cost an estimated $10,000, she said.

Next up is a possible project on Rhode Island Street, a gravel road with heavy traffic. If the city can afford it, the street will be chip-sealed this summer, Brown said.

“But we’re a little short, financially,” she said. “Right now, finances being what they are, we may need to cut back on it.”