City staff updated council Dec. 3 on the Cedar Street reconstruction project and sought direction on three design options and traffic-calming measures. Project manager Rachel McKinley and Public Works Director Holly Ellis outlined design constraints, tree concerns and operational implications.

Staff emphasized maintenance and operational concerns from street and utilities crews and recommended preserving the city-standard 12-foot travel lane to ensure safe snowplow and utility operations. "Our recommendation was to stay with the city standard of 12 feet because of those operational concerns," Holly Ellis said, citing the need to allow crews room to work during utility repairs and winter maintenance.

Project staff also described a public-preference option for a continuous 10-foot multimodal path on the south side; that option would intersect several power poles and might require Avista to underground lines at an estimated cost of about $200,000. McKinley said the project has reached out to multiple certified arborists to assess a large silver maple that the Urban Forestry Commission polled as meeting the definition of a heritage tree; staff are seeking an arborist recommendation on feasibility to protect the tree while digging an 8-foot trench for the replacement water main.

Planning staff and several councilors argued narrower lanes (10.5') can slow vehicle speeds and create a more pedestrian-friendly corridor. "From an urban planning perspective…a 10-foot travel lane is going to afford you a little bit more opportunity to have a more pedestrian friendly approach," planner Bill Dean said.

Council ultimately voted to table final direction until the Dec. 17 meeting to allow staff time to obtain arborist assessments, review the pole/undergrounding implications with Avista and provide more detailed cost and design trade-off information. Councilors asked staff to include Bike/Ped and Urban Forestry committee input in the next packet.

The tabling preserves time for more analysis of tree-preservation options, ADA implications and grant or URA funding trade-offs before staff proceeds to 90% design.