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Sandpoint Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee adopts three priorities for 2026
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Summary
The committee voted Jan. 8 to make updating the Multimodal Transportation Plan, pursuing a coordinated safety outreach and policy agenda, and reviewing the city sidewalk ordinance (including in-lieu fees) its top priorities for 2026. The motion passed by voice vote; the transcript records an "Aye" but no roll-call tally.
The Sandpoint Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee voted Jan. 8 to adopt three top priorities for 2026: a strengthened update of the city's Multimodal Transportation Plan (MTMP), a combined safety outreach and policy effort, and a review and update of the city sidewalk ordinance (including guidance for in-lieu fees).
Committee Chair Kate Houston opened the discussion by asking staff to summarize items the group had identified at its previous meeting. Associate Planner Eric Brubaker read a short list of candidate priorities gathered from the committee's earlier work, citing the bike and pedestrian priority networks, several capital projects in the multimodal plan, the sidewalk ordinance and in-lieu fees, connectivity to the North (North Boyer/Great Northern) and routine maintenance and signage needs.
A motion to adopt three priorities as the committee's focus for 2026 was made, seconded and carried by voice vote. The motion as stated on the record designated the MTMP update (with specific attention to pedestrian and bicycle priority networks), a safety focus that combines outreach and policy tools (traffic calming, signage, outreach to schools and the public), and a review/update of the sidewalk ordinance (including how in-lieu fees are used) as the committee's top three objectives for the year. The transcript records the voice vote as "Aye," and does not include a roll-call tally or named vote counts.
Members explained why each priority matters. "I want to make specific suggestions that it make more reference to modes of transportation other than vehicles," Chair Kate Houston said before the vote, urging the committee to add prescriptive language to the MTMP rather than only review it. Molly O'Reilly, who seconded the motion, pushed for safety to include both outreach and policy tools: "I think you're being too limited with safety," she said, arguing the committee should be able to recommend policy measures such as e-bike speed guidance in addition to public messaging.
Committee members agreed the MTMP would be the umbrella for many pieces of work (priority streets, capital projects and the sidewalk code). Staff and members discussed practical constraints (budget, the likely scale of projects versus available in-lieu funds) and asked that working groups be realistic and coordinated so volunteer work produces concrete deliverables for staff and council consideration.
Next steps recorded in the meeting: the MTMP working group will propose a sequence and reporting cadence for committee review; staff will advise what working-group tasks are realistic for the coming months; and the pedestrian priority streets and the MTMP updates will be agendized for a full-committee review at a future meeting.
The committee concluded by asking staff to pass the priorities to the mayor/council as a formal set of committee recommendations, and to return next month with a proposed working-group structure and any staff feedback about how the committee's work can be routed to action.
The meeting adjourned at 12:58 p.m.
