Rathdrum roadway 'de-annexed' back to Post Falls
A right-of-way intersection of West Hayden Avenue near the city-owned property on Greensferry Road was de-annexed.
CAROLYN BOSTICK/Press
RATHDRUM — The border between the cities of Rathdrum and Post Falls has changed several times since 2020, and adjustments necessitated by growth and development on the prairie continue.
Rathdrum City Administrator Leon Duce said although city leadership is trying to maintain a separation between the annexation boundaries of the two cities to act as a territorial boundary, it became necessary to cede an intersection of West Hayden Avenue and Greensferry Road back to Post Falls.
The annexed area totals about a half-mile portion of the West Hayden Avenue right-of-way near city-owned property on Greensferry Road.
The reasoning behind the “de-annexation,” Duce said, was to prevent all on-duty Rathdrum Police from having to respond to crashes at the right-of-way on West Hayden Avenue and Greensferry Road.
“When we have an accident there, it pulls all of our active law enforcement and we have to close roads as far as Wyoming Avenue, Highway 41, Prairie Avenue and Idaho Road,” Duce said.
The resulting arrangement means the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office has law enforcement coverage of the intersection, and the Post Falls Highway District is handling the road maintenance.
Duce said there are three to four Rathdrum police officers on duty at any given time, and to repeatedly have all active officers engaged in crashes was a drain on resources.
In a planning and zoning meeting at the end of last year, it was discussed that Rathdrum will likely never be able to annex a larger portion of West Hayden Avenue to create a more permanent boundary between the two cities. This is because Post Falls has blocked further annexation of West Hayden Avenue through its own recent annexations.
The de-annexation will not affect anything outside the right-of-way, Duce said.
The Post Falls Highway District was already sharing responsibility with the City of Rathdrum in the vicinity since both cities had portions they had claimed.
“The city owns the one corner of land there, but, for instance, it didn’t make sense for the plow blade to be lifted for a short period of time to plow that road,” Duce said.