Sandpoint council coalesces on narrower lanes, mixed-use path and tree review for Cedar Street reconstruction

Sandpoint — At a special workshop on the Cedar Street reconstruction project, the Sandpoint City Council and staff narrowed preferred design parameters and instructed staff to develop a revised concept and cost estimate for public review.

The council, led by Mayor Jeremy Graham and public works staff, discussed multiple cross-section options for Cedar Street, a collector corridor with a 50-foot right of way. Staff described the city’s baseline guidance from the Urban Area Transportation Plan (UATP), which calls for a 60-foot right of way and 12-foot travel lanes on collectors, and explained that the project must balance multiple priorities within the narrower local right of way.

Why it matters: the project is budgeted for this fiscal year and is at the stage where design choices will affect bid documents, construction cost and timing. Councilors and staff discussed trade-offs among pedestrian access, bicycle facilities, tree preservation, stormwater treatment and winter maintenance; they also agreed that additional outreach and technical work (including arborist input) are needed before final design and bidding.

Most important decisions and directions

- Lane width: the council reached consensus on 10.5-foot curb-to-curb travel lanes (the body noted 12-foot lanes are the city standard but cited snowplow and safety trade-offs). Staff said narrower lanes provide traffic-calming benefits but flagged winter plowing and maintenance impacts as considerations.

- Sidewalks and bike facilities: councilors favored a 5-foot sidewalk on the north side of Cedar and a 10-foot shared-use (multiuse) path on the south side where feasible. Staff were directed to avoid removing existing recently installed sidewalks where possible and to design the south-side path so it can connect to existing and future pedestrian routes.

- Planter strips and stormwater: councilors supported enlarging planter strips where the right of way allows to…