SANDPOINT — Motorists accustomed to driving on Boyer Avenue may find themselves in uncomfortable new territory Monday when the city closes the street section between Cedar and Alder for sewer work.

Both Boyer and its intersection at Cedar are scheduled to be closed until Oct. 26, but Public Works Director Kody Van Dyk says that it’s possible the street will be back in business before that target date.

“We’re thinking that, at the very least, we’ll get the intersection at Cedar opened up much earlier,” he said. 

Workers will start putting up detour signs on Friday, but the closure won’t be enforced until Monday. Traffic will divert onto Division Avenue while Boyer is out of commission. 

During the period of closure, T. Lariviere Construction and JUB Engineers will be replacing the sewer system. The current sewer’s integrity is degraded, and as a result, external water is leaking into the system.

After the replacement is installed, the leakage will be fixed and the main will be enlarged for greater capacity.

“So we’ll be upgrading the system in addition to fixing the current problem,” Van Dyk said.

After workers finish the job on Boyer, the sewer main replacement will move to Sixth Avenue between Alder and Larch. According to Van Dyk, the new system is environmentally friendly and conceptually advanced.

“Sixth Avenue is going to be an entirely green street,” he said. “It’s a very innovative storm water treatment system we’re putting into place.”

The city has scheduled the sewer replacement during October because in Sandpoint’s area, autumn is the best time of the year for sewer maintenance.

“There are a variety of reasons, but mostly, ground water is at the right level to do this kind of work,” Van Dyk said. “So that’s why we waited until fall.”