Downtown Corridor Coming Together

The City of Coeur d’Alene and the Hagadone Corporation broke ground Wednesday on a new pedestrian corridor project that will connect the new McEuen Park to the City Park. Most of the project should be completed by Memorial Day. From left, Mike Reilly, owner, Cameron-Reilly LLC; Dell Hatch, landscape architect, Welch Comer Engineers; Bill Reagan, general manager, Coeur d’Alene Resort; Phil Boyd, president, Welch Comer Engineers; Steve Widmyer, mayor of the City of Coeur d’Alene; Brad Hagadone, president of Hagadone Communications; John Barlow, Hagadone Corp. consultant; and Travis Curtis, director of landscaping for the Hagadone Corporation. (Coeur d’Alene Press photo: Shawn Gust)

Despite difficulty getting started, the Centennial Trail corridor through downtown is finally coming together. “It goes all the way back to the McEuen Park steering committee,” Phil Boyd, president of Welch Comer, said Wednesday during a ground-breaking ceremony. “Even back then, they had identified this strong pedestrian connection between McEuen Park and City Park. In addition to that, the corner (Second Street and Front Avenue) has a terrible pedestrian/vehicle conflict.” Boyd said he became passionate about eliminating that safety hazard, and Dell Hatch, also of Welch Comer, was passionate about resolving the pedestrian connection between the two parks/ Jeff Selle , Coeur d’Alene Press. More here.

Question: My wife & I regularly ride our bikes downtown and along McEuen Field to City Park and beyond. The scariest part is the connection between McEuen Field and City Park, which is the target of this upgrade. I know how bad the congestion is now with boats, cars, pedestrians, bikes, etc. I’m curious to see how this is resolved. How about you?