COEUR d’ALENE — Traffic lights on Ramsey Road are in line for an upgrade of more than $1 million.

“The goal is to better coordinate the signal corridor on Ramsey Road,” said Chris Bosley, Coeur d'Alene city engineer.

On Monday, the city's General Services/Public Works Committee approved an initial payment of $5,000 for the design of the $1.33 million project.

“That’s just to get the project started," Bosley said.

The city learned in September it had been awarded a $1.24 million grant from the Local Highway Technical Assistance Council for the work.

The city is required to provide a grant match of about $98,000.

Bosley said communication between the signal lights at Dalton, Hanley and Prairie will be improved and new signal lights will be installed at Wilbur Avenue.

It will help traffic move more smoothly through the area, he said.

“When we’re done with it we can create a coordinated program, much like we have on the lower portion of Ramsey and Northwest Boulevard,” he said.

Signal lights will be needed at Wilbur Avenue as it is extended further west into Coeur d’Alene Place as it continues to be developed and traffic increases.

“We’re trying to get ahead of that,” Bosley said.

The project is expected to be in design stages for the next year. The city will work with the assistance council to hire an engineering consultant.

“The best we can probably hope for is a 2025 construction year,” Bosley said. “But you never know because construction dollars are often moved around."

The city spent around $3 million in road improvement projects over the summer. Much of that was on Northwest Boulevard and Ramsey Road, which handle an estimated 30,000 vehicle trips daily.