City takes pride in its roads
Tim Martin | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 12 years, 8 months AGO
What is the trick to keeping our streets in good shape?
My first response is that the city of Coeur d'Alene has very talented, dedicated people in the street maintenance and engineering departments. The one word answer is simple: resources.
In a typical year, this city invests about $1 million between the overlay program and in-house forces to keep the 250 miles of streets maintained. With these resources dedicated to street maintenance, along with periodic help from grants and LIDs, our streets maintain their integrity.
Furthermore, the Coeur d'Alene City Council has repeatedly underscored its commitment to street maintenance and safety to the motoring public during annual budget retreats, making it a top priority.
Many of our arterials, such as Fourth Street from Lakeside Avenue to Kathleen, Best Avenue, Northwest Boulevard, Ramsey Road from Appleway to Prairie Avenue, and Government Way from Harrison to Dalton Avenue, have seen a series of improvements such as stormwater retention, curb and gutter, and street widening over the last seven to nine years.
This summer, the main focus for overlay will be on asphalt surfacing of the residential area south of Forest Cemetery along with Lincoln Way. Another project is the reconstruction of Government Way from Dalton to Hanley Avenue.
With the summer repair season approaching, street maintenance department crews will initially focus on patching the following areas:
• Kathleen Avenue (East of Ramsey)
• 15th Street (Harrison to Best)
• Dalton (US 95 to Ramsey)
• Hanley (Courcelles to US 95)
• Atlas Road
• East Sherman Avenue
There will be many other streets in addition to these that will be repaired by the street maintenance department later this summer. We want to do the best job possible alerting motorists to our work zones. Detailed day-to-day traffic impact reports are provided daily to radio KVNI 1080 AM for street closures and interferences. Weekly progress reports will also be on the street maintenance website.
Along with these summer maintenance items, crews will begin the summer maintenance program such as striping, painting cross-walks, and refurbishing sidewalks to meet ADA standards. Year 3 of the 5-year ADA Hazard Abatement plan will take place on the both sides of Fourth Street from Harrison to Annie.
Road maintenance work is demanding and dangerous. We ask for the public's patience and help to obey work zone signage and to be extra cautious in our work areas. In return, we promise that we will do our best to ensure your safety and to not delay you unnecessarily.
For information please call 769-2233, listen to KVNI, or visit the website cdaid.org.
Tim Martin is street superintendent for the city of Coeur d'Alene.
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