On the road to improvement

For years, the winding stretch of road that wraps around Fernan Lake’s north side has been a peril to drivers. Those days are coming to an end.

The Fernan Lake Road Improvement Project, which began in paperwork form in 2005 between various federal and state agencies including the Federal Highway Administration, the Idaho Panhandle National Forest, the East Side Highway District and the Idaho Transportation Department, has been under way for several months. The purpose of the estimated $14.5 million project, which is running one year ahead of its summer 2011 completion date, is to reconstruct or resurface more than 10 miles of the route around the lake.

“The overall purpose of the project is to improve, reasonably and cost effectively, the safety of Fernan Lake Road, while minimizing adverse impacts to sensitive environmental resources,” the project’s Web site reads.

The two-lane road is the most heavily used road on the Coeur d’Alene River Ranger District, while Idaho Transportation Department records “show it has a much higher accident rate than similar roads statewide,” the Web site states. The East Side Highway District, meanwhile, reports “it has the poorest conditions of all the roads it maintains.”

Between 2004 and 2008, there were 31 accidents on Fernan Lake Road that resulted in 11 injuries, with no fatalities, according to statistics provided by the Idaho Transportation Department’s Office of Highway Safety. Most of the crashes involved vehicles hitting a tree and vehicles that had overturned, with each accounting for eight of the total accidents.

Built in the 1930s, the more-than-10-mile stretch of road that runs just east of Fernan Village to the end of the lake has been improved over the years. But potholes and narrow lanes have always proved hazardous.

In addition, it lacked a stormwater treatment system to protect the water quality of Fernan Lake and Fernan Creek, which is one of the primary focuses being addressed in the new construction. Straw wattles and silt fences were put in place along the length of the lakeside route to catch sediment before it entered any nearby body of water.

The final draft of the project included input from the public, professionals and other agencies. For example, potential project impacts to the wildlife and endangered species in the area, as well as the cultural and historic resource impacts on the road, were taken into account.

The official plan, known as Alternative G, closely follows the existing path, though some major changes, such as a curved bridge at Lilypad Bay, will be made. A few miles of the sharp curves along the road just east of the town will be straightened and widened, with reinforced edges where necessary to prevent erosion. From there, along the west side of lower Fernan Creek, roadway improvements will include an alignment that minimizes impacts to the creek and adjacent wetlands, while the rest of the road up to Milepost 10.7 will be repaved. “Implementing this alternative will meet the purpose of the project by providing extensive safety improvements to the road while minimizing impacts,” the highway administration Web site explains.

The improvements will allow for a number of other benefits, too, such as improved parking and recreational access.

While the wider roads, containment barriers and various ongoing construction signs marking the route show how far the project has progressed, it hasn’t been an easy job, said Dusty Forsmann, project manager with Clarkston, Wash.,-based M.A. DeAtley Construction, the company that last summer won the bid for the project.

“The biggest challenges would be the tight working challenges, the existing narrow road and steep rock cuts, while maintaining traffic flow,” he offered. However, he continued, “I’d say we’re 80 percent complete with the roadway cuts.”

Forsmann said they are on-track to being finished in summer 2010, a full year earlier than expected. “At this point, yeah, I’d say it’s going as planned,” he said. “The road will be much better than it is now.”