SANDPOINT — A lot has been happening with the downtown streets this year, between the downtown revitalization on Cedar Street, the sewer work on First Avenue, and the bike path project on Oak Street.

Streets on the other side of town, however, have been getting some attention from the city as well. Last week, for example, Sandpoint West Drive was converted to a one-way street.

“It’s very narrow,” said City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton during the Sept. 5 City Council meeting. “... It was the businesses in the area that had contacted the city with concerns about safety to the children. They get parking sometimes stacked up on both sides of the street, and it is not a wide enough street for a fire truck to be able to navigate with cars on both sides of the street.”

The majority of the signage went up last week, said Sandpoint Public Works Director Amanda Wilson, though there are a few more one-way signs to install along the street in front of each driveway. The remaining signs have been ordered and should be installed by next week, she said. The primary purpose of this change is to provide adequate fire access while still allowing parking on one side of the street.

Vehicles are now required to enter through the west side of the loop and exit on the east side.

Another street project that has been ongoing through the summer is the Ella Avenue rehabilitation project, between Pine Street and the Litehouse production facility north of Chestnut Street. The city was awarded a $546,732 strategic initiatives grant through the Local Highway Technical Assistance Council in March. The scope of the project, most of which has been completed, primarily includes pavement replacement primarily, with limited areas of curb, gutter, ADA curb ramps and storm drain work.

City Engineer Dan Tadic told council on Sept. 5 that surplus funds are available for the project, and staff had been entertaining ideas to enhance safety within the Ella Avenue corridor.

“There are currently only two stop signs on that entire stretch of roadway,” Tadic said. “It’s a designated bike route; it provides access to two schools and a park on Spruce.”

Over the course of the project, Tadic said staff heard concerns from residents, including reports of speeding motorists, people using Ella as a north-south corridor to get through town, and also that Litehouse shift changes coincide with school pick-up, resulting in an “enhanced amount of traffic” for a period of time. In looking at the different “traffic-calming” options, including speed bumps and bulbouts, staff settled on the idea of a speed table.

“Basically what it is a concrete rise,” Tadic said. “It rises three inches over six feet, so it is a very gradual rise. In this particular application what we are looking at is a rise of three inches in over six feet, with a 10-foot flat surface on the top, and six feet back down, so it’s a total length of 22 feet.

Tadic said three areas have been identified for possibly placing speed tables along Ella. One is mid-block between Church and Oak, another mid-block between Fir and Larch, and another mid-block between Spruce and Chestnut.

The speed tables would cost between $14,000 and $15,000, he said, with about $110,000 in unexpended grant funds.

As for the downtown work, Cedar Street has been paved and is in the final stages of placing street furniture and other punchlist items. The blocks between Second and Fifth Avenue are open to traffic, though there may be some lane closures throughout the week for concrete and street furniture placement. New trees and landscaping will be planted next week.

First Avenue is closed north of Main Street, around the corner to Cedar and Second, for the sewer main replacement. Wilson said the work is on schedule and expected to wrap up by mid-October.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.