SANDPOINT — The Cedar Street construction is underway and on schedule, according to city officials.

"Crews have completed demolition of the sidewalks and roadway between Second and Third avenues and are currently focusing on utilities," said Amanda Wilson, Sandpoint Public Works director, in an email to the Daily Bee on Tuesday. "Overall, construction activities are going very well and the project is progressing as planned. Concrete work is scheduled to begin shortly."

The construction planned for this week includes excavation and backfill, as well as installation of electrical conduits, irrigation lines, piping, and other drainage features. All intersections around the construction site are open, though they are occasionally controlled by flaggers. Pedestrians are asked to stay between the building and orange fencing.

The construction is the first phase of the city's downtown revitalization project, which will give Cedar Street, between Second and Fifth avenues, with a complete makeover. The work will be done in one-block sections over the course of the summer, with each block taking about a month to complete.

Crews will be removing and replacing all elements of the street from storefront to storefront. These elements include the street and sidewalks, replacing them with wider sidewalks and bulbouts in the intersections, and adding new trees, bike racks, benches, trash receptacles, lighting and storm gardens. With the storm gardens, seating walls will be added near the bulbouts on each corner.

Construction also began on the Oak Street bike path project between Fourth and Sixth avenues last week as Avista Utilities works to move the overhead power lines underground. The street is currently closed for construction on the west side of Fifth Avenue.

The project was originally identified as a corridor in the The Downtown Streets Plan and Design Guide, which was published in 2012, as city staff began looking at links to the lake for multi-modal opportunities. The project is funded by a GEM grant through the Idaho Department of Commerce with the city and Avista providing matching funds. The estimated cost of the project is $365,865.

In addition to the work on Cedar and Oak, the sewer replacement along First Avenue will continue in August after the conclusion of Festival at Sandpoint. The sewer project began last year, running from just south of Lake Street to north of Church Street. Beginning from where crews left off, this year's construction will extend up First, rounding the corner on Cedar and ending at Second Avenue. Traffic will be detoured during the construction, which is expected to conclude in November.

For information on downtown revitalization and project details, visit sandpointstreets.com.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.