The August 15th Coeur d'Alene City Council meeting was full of important and costly subjects, but a large chunk of money was approved to be spent on the beginning stages of a 15th St reconstruction project worth about $7 million.
The City of Coeur d’Alene recently completed a 15th Street design mockup with Ardurra (formerly known as T-O Engineers). The project included an improvement plan design mockup with 30% of the final conceptual plans and cost estimate. The plan included improving 15th Street, between Harrison Avenue and Best Avenue. The improvements include mill/grind and inlay just north of Harrison Avenue to north side of I-90 westbound on-ramp, which includes updating the City’s illumination system within the interchange footprint, and north of I-90 westbound on-ramp a full reconstruction of 15th Street. The proposed complete street modifications include a continuous 5-foot sidewalk on the west side, 10- to 11-foot travel lanes, two 5-foot bicycle lanes, and a multiuse path on the east side. The new design will also look for opportunities to capture and dispose of stormwater with swales, rather than piping to the existing outfall.
Now the City wants to move forward with a full, final design from Ardurra that will cost $683,700. The cost will get them through the bidding process, to be estimated awarded by April 15, 2025 (the location is in a flood plain which makes things more complicated and will have to get FEMA involved).
This $684k is just for the design stage. The project as a whole is estimated to cost about $7 million and the City will have to look at federal funding grants to be able to complete this project. The engineering design process is similar to the Government Way traffic lights; the project needs to get to as close as bid-ready as possible to be able to look more desirable to federal grants.
With hardly any discussion, the city council approved the professional services agreement with Ardurra with Resolution 23-065. To download full Ardurra scope of work, click here.