BAYVIEW — There’s more than one route into Bayview — and as a lifelong resident of the lakeside community, Gary MacDonald knows them well.

“But you’re not going to have the distinctly impressive views you get from coming in on the 54,” MacDonald said.

State Highway 54 cuts through Farragut State Park and into Bayview, bringing residents and many of the over 507,000 yearly visitors to the park into the community to shop, dine and play on Lake Pend Oreille.

But as of Wednesday, that route is no longer an option as an intersection improvement project at Brig Road triggered the closure of Highway 54 from east of Farragut’s North Road to near the top of the hill approaching Bayview.

The $3 million project, funded by the Idaho Transportation Department, will redesign the intersection to create dedicated right- and left-turn lanes and a pedestrian underpass.

The project supports the park’s “long-planned vision for its central entrance,” according to a Feb. 11 press release from ITD, the need for which was initially identified over 20 years ago.

During construction, drivers will follow a detour using the traffic circle to access Perimeter Road and then Bayview Road.

The detour adds less than five minutes of travel time, according to ITD.

The closure is expected to remain in place until early July — a fact that has garnered pushback from some Bayview residents and business owners, including MacDonald.

MacDonald is the president of MacDonald’s Resort, a family-owned and operated business that has offered cabin rentals, boat rentals and other recreational services in Bayview since 1951.

Communication between stakeholders and the agencies involved in the project, he said, has been limited at best.

“They don’t know how it’s going to affect Bayview because they didn’t ask us,” he said.

According to resident Sheryl Puckett, the Bayview Community Council was not provided with an opportunity to participate in the planning process for the project.

“This organization publishes a monthly newsletter for the area's residents and is always engaged in concerns,” Puckett said. “This is well known to everyone and to neglect to contact us is more than an oversight.”

A lot has changed in the area since the plan was initially discussed two decades ago, she added.

“Traffic volume and Bayview’s economic dependence on tourism have changed significantly,” she said. “A 20-year-old plan does not mean it’s a good plan, either.”

However, Park Manager Liz Palfini said in a letter to MacDonald that the agency has “worked diligently” to keep Bayview informed of project developments.

“Every year since 2000, the Bayview community has been reminded that the centralized entrance is an improvement project that will enhance safe access to Farragut from a central location,” Palfini said.

Palfini said Wednesday that construction stretching through July is “worst-case scenario.”

“We hope that we can shorten that, if possible, along the way,” she said. In the meantime, park staff will direct visitors to Bayview.

Palfini also confirmed that project permits are in place and neighboring agencies, including Timberlake Fire District, have been informed of the detour.

MacDonald has seen changes come to Farragut State Park many times in his 75 years, he said, and considers Bayview to be “a good partner for the park.”

And though residents were able to get some answers during an informational meeting earlier this week, he still feels it may have been too little, too late.

“It may be that they have a perfectly legitimate reason to close (Highway 54) for five months for this project,” he said, “but we wouldn’t know.”