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Sandpoint committee seeks action on unsafe Boyer–Highway 2 crossing, questions speed signage
Summary
The Sandpoint Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee flagged a dangerous crosswalk at Boyer and U.S. Highway 2 and agreed to place action items on its next agenda asking the mayor or staff to confirm the speed limit signage and pursue short-term visibility fixes.
The Sandpoint Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee on April 10 urged the city to pursue short-term and longer-term fixes for the crosswalk at Boyer and U.S. Highway 2 and to clarify conflicting speed-limit signage on Highway 2 between Division and Boyer.
The committee’s intersection subcommittee reported that Highway 2 is signed as 35 mph through the stretch but said Idaho Transportation Department staff indicated it should be 25 mph. "The first 1 is, Highway 2 from Division to Boyer is, 35 mile an hour. And when I talked to the ITD, Nathan Herbst, he he understood that it was 25 miles an hour from Division to a Boyer," committee member Julie Perchinski said. The subcommittee described the crosswalk as offset from the corner, which makes pedestrians less visible to right‑turning vehicles.
Committee members outlined short-term recommendations — repainting crosswalk markings, adding pedestrian‑warning signage or orange flags, and improving sightlines — and longer-term ideas including moving the crosswalk to the corner and restricting unprotected left turns from Boyer. "The short term is to definitely repaint the lines, put up signs that say watch for pedestrians and or orange flags," Perchinski said.
City Engineer Brandon Steglen said staff can serve as the point of contact for communications with ITD and recommended formalizing the committee’s recommendations as an action item on the next meeting agenda so a motion can be voted on. The committee agreed to prepare specific motion language for the April meeting packet and to ask the mayor to direct staff to investigate the signage discrepancy and to pursue short-term visibility measures if feasible.
No formal vote occurred on the recommendations at this meeting; members agreed to return the items as action items next month so the committee can vote and forward recommendations to the mayor or council.
Committee members also recorded an ITD contact name for follow-up: Nathan Herbst (Nathan.Herbst@itd.idaho.gov).
