Meeting set on education corridor transportation plan

COEUR d’ALENE — It’s a chance to chime in on how getting in and out of the education corridor could one day go.

Partners working on the proposed project want to present preliminary findings on the transportation side of the plan, such as how development on possible ingress and egress routes and general infrastructure improvements could look down the road.

The ongoing study has suggested developing better access at Hubbard Street and River Avenue to ease traffic pressures in the area near the North Idaho College campus.

“That’s what we want to change,” said Chris Bates, city project engineer, on the possible points of development. “That will take all the pressure off of Mullan Avenue. I shouldn’t say all of it, but a great deal.”

The open house, scheduled from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Lake City Senior Center, will also familiarize the public with selected alternatives for road alignments and widths, intersection locations, and bike and pedestrian plans that could accompany ground breaking in the future.

Last year, the Mayors’ Institute on City Design awarded the city of Coeur d’Alene a grant to continue studying the education corridor project through its Alumni Technical Assistance program, a partnership program of the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Architectural Foundation, and the United States Conference of Mayors.

That led to designing development criteria for the area as well as creating a traffic and engineering study for infrastructure enhancements.

Now, the public can weigh in on some of the suggestions for the streets.

“Bring your notepad and see what you think,” Bates said.

Public comments are welcome. It could be the only meeting on the matter, although another could be scheduled later.

City officials have stated the purpose of the education corridor is to create a community where area youth can go to college locally, be eligible for local employment, and raise their families in the region.

The Lake City Senior Center is located at 1916 Lakewood Drive.

Information: 769-2228