Confusion reigns on Hayden Lake's Strahorn Road

HAYDEN LAKE - Some area residents are upset over the city of Hayden Lake turning a half mile of a busy thoroughfare into a one-way street.

"People are constantly turning on their blinkers trying to turn north on Strahorn and throwing their arms up in frustration," said Hayden resident Terry Russo.

As of Wednesday, Strahorn Road became southbound one way between Miles and Hayden Avenues, the section that Hayden Lake City Council has jurisdiction over.

Strahorn is a primary arterial connecting Hayden and Coeur d'Alene that also runs through Hayden Lake.

The change means drivers headed north on Strahorn must reroute onto either Lakeview Drive or through residential areas in Hayden, Russo said.

"There's no convenient way for residents to get around this," Russo said. "They've really made our lives harder."

Lakes Highway District had recommended against the change because of the road's heavy use, said district Engineer Eric Shanley.

Strahorn is designated as an urban minor arterial, Shanley said, with more than 800 cars a day traveling southbound, and 700 northbound.

"People utilize that road for a major connection into their workplace in town," Shanley said.

Russo is worried about how much traffic will now be channeled through Hayden residential streets like Hillview Drive, where kids walk to and from Hayden Meadows Elementary.

Russo's fifth grade son rides his bike through those streets to school everyday, she said.

"It (safety) is a huge concern," she said. "I'm not sure I'm going to be allowing him to bike to and from school until they have this figured out."

Joan Burnham, who lives on Avondale Loop in Hayden, said she doesn't dare drive on Hillview now.

"Kids dart out from side streets and driveways," she said.

She added that to get home now, she has to drive up Lakeview Drive and backtrack down Strahorn, she said.

"It's the coming home part that's throwing a wrench in this," she said.

But the one-way change is only a temporary test to see how people respond, said Nancy Morris, Hayden Lake mayor.

"Strahorn is one of those streets that is a problem child," she said.

The city has long fielded complaints about how bumpy and narrow the street is, Morris said.

"There are times when two trucks pass, their mirrors almost touch," she said.

But the city hasn't been able to obtain grants for the projected $800,000 to refinish and widen the road, she said. There is also the issue that widening would require taking out a number of trees.

So two months ago, the council voted unanimously to test if drivers would have more room on a one-way street, Morris said. This also makes space for a new bike path, she added.

She can appreciate locals' worries about rerouting through residential areas, she said.

"It's one of those situations where we're kind of in between two gates," Morris said. "There's no easy solution here, and we understand that."

Hayden Lake will set up traffic counters on streets around Strahorn to gauge the impacts of the change, she said.

"That will make our decision, I'm sure," she said, adding that the street could return to a two-way.

Stefan Chatwin, city administrator for the city of Hayden, has doubts.

Hayden Lake council members didn't confer with Hayden staff at all about the street change, he said.

"We would have liked to have been able to share our insights and work on this, especially with the fact that this does impact the traffic in the city of Hayden," Chatwin said.

Hayden Lake's test for the street seems unorganized, he added.

"I'm a little leery of the comment, 'We're just going to do it temporarily and see how it works,'" he said. "Is that five years, or five weeks? And how are you going to determine if you use it or not? Does that mean if traffic increases significantly throughout our neighborhoods, that they're going to go back? Or do they care what happens in the city of Hayden?"

Tom Gorman, Hayden Lake council member who oversees streets and water, said the city met with Hayden staff once last fall. He didn't hear from Hayden staff again until it was too late in the decision process, he said.

Gorman couldn't predict how long the test would take. The Hayden Lake council has no specific parameters to judge if the one-way street is a success, he said.

"We'll just see how it goes. If it's too inconvenient, we'll pull it out of there," said Gorman, who lives on the affected section of Strahorn. "It's a two-edged sword for everybody who lives on that street. It's inconvenient, but it also cuts traffic in half."

Gorman was allowed to vote on the matter because he wouldn't profit from the street change.

Morris encouraged people to share their opinions at Hayden Lake council meetings, at 7 p.m. the first Tuesday of every month at city hall.

Folks can also write in comments to the City Hall at 9393 N. Strahorn Road. Phone calls are discouraged, due to minimal staff.

"Hopefully we can satisfy everybody in the long run," Morris said.