SPIRIT LAKE - A controversial street project here stands to be expedited a year earlier than originally thought.

The Spirit Lake City Council will hold a public hearing on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. when it re-opens its street budget to incorporate the 10th Avenue improvement project from Highway 54 to Van Buren.

Mayor Todd Clary said the project, earlier approved by the council, was originally pegged for 2012, but grant funding has become available sooner. Hence, the budget amendment proposal.

Clary said the project won't bump or postpone any other street work.

The 1.6-mile project near the Timberlake schools will pave and resurface 10th Avenue, narrow the street in parts where speeding is a concern, add a 5-foot sidewalk on the east side and an 8-foot bike path on the west side.

"There's a lot of pedestrians in the road and we'd like to provide them a safe place to walk back and forth," Clary said. "It will improve pedestrian safety by a huge amount."

There are currently no sidewalks or bike paths along the stretch of the corridor and portions of 10th are gravel or in need of repair.

Rusty Leahy, project manager for David Evans and Associates, said design work is just under way. Bidding for construction will be next spring with construction starting next summer and lasting two to three months.

A public meeting will be held late this summer to update residents on the project, estimated to cost $975,000. It is being funded by a federal grant with a 7.3 percent local match over two years.

Besides Highway 41, 10th is the only street in town that runs from the south side of town to the north side.

Some residents in the stretch had concerns about the project because they have landscaping or park in front of their homes and the sidewalk or path will cut into that space. However, those areas are in the city's right of way.

Leahy said no private property needed to be purchased for the project, which will be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Some residents also said they weren't given adequate notice about the project early on.

A pedestrian safety project last year along 15th Avenue in Post Falls near Post Falls Middle School also drew concerns from residents in that corridor after it reduced parking in city right of way.