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City staff say five‑lane Brighton Avenue rebuild needed; bond and grant options discussed
Summary
Public works director presented a traffic analysis warning Brighton Avenue intersections will reach failing levels of service by 2033 and recommended a five‑lane reconstruction; councilors discussed funding options including federal grants, urban renewal match, and a voter bond to accelerate the project.
Public Works Director Dustin Thompson told the Lewiston City Council on May 4 that a traffic study projects significant queuing at nodes along Brighton Avenue and recommends a five‑lane reconstruction for long‑term performance.
The analysis, Thompson said, models moderate growth and shows several intersections reaching a level of service of “F” by about 2033. “They found significant queuing, basically all the intersections,” Thompson said, and the consultants did not recommend a three‑lane section for the corridor. He described the project in two phases — phase 1 roughly from Fourth to Seventh — with a planning estimate of about $15 million for phase 1’s construction.
The nut of the debate for councilors was how to pay for the work. Thompson outlined available funding: Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) allocations routed through the Regional Metropolitan Planning Organization, urban renewal area (URA) contributions that have helped match federal money, and the city’s Arterial Reconstruction program, which currently holds roughly $5.5–$7.5 million depending on next year’s budget. He warned URA dollars are finite and federal programs can be slow to deliver. “We’ve got about $600,000 a year in STBG allocation,” Thompson said, and federal grants require local match and lengthy federal environmental and right‑of‑way processes.
City Attorney Jennifer Tangano explained a legal constraint the council must consider: under Idaho’s constitution the city cannot enter a contract that creates indebtedness beyond its appropriations without voter approval. “The way that the city was planning to finance this was through the bond because we don’t have the entire balance appropriated at this point,” she said, describing a voter bond (two‑thirds approval) as the mechanism that would allow the city to contract for the full project now and repay over time.
Councilors asked whether internal reserves or enterprise funds could be repurposed; staff and the city treasurer said many funds are restricted by state law or prior voter action and cannot be diverted without legal steps. Thompson outlined alternate approaches if the council declined a bond: (1) cash‑flow construction piecemeal by fixing failing intersections first, (2) pursue federal BUILD/Main Street grants (which require local match), or (3) issue a bond later once phase‑specific designs and right‑of‑way are secured. He advised returning with concrete bond scenarios during the budget process: “Let me show you kind of some scenarios,” Thompson said, proposing an October follow‑up after budget deliberations.
The council signaled urgency but mixed appetite for a bond this year. Several councilors supported moving faster to avoid further deterioration; others urged caution about over‑committing scarce local match dollars. Thompson said staff would coordinate with the URA, the MPO and the water utility (Lloyd) — which needs to time water‑line replacements to minimize repeated work — and return with funding scenarios and a timeline for right‑of‑way acquisition.
What happens next: staff will bring bond and funding scenarios tied to phase design and right‑of‑way to the council later this year during budget planning; federal grant results (for related Main Street funding) may also influence the final scope and schedule.
