COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — As the vehicle turned right from Mullan Avenue onto Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive early Saturday afternoon, the driver veered close to the North Idaho Centennial Trail — in the lane designated for bikes, reports our partners at the Coeur d'Alene Press.
The driver realized his mistake and suddenly veered left to return to the lane where he belonged.
Later, the driver of a truck went to turn off Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive onto East Potlatch Hill Road, moving into the right-hand turn lane that is shared with cyclists, according to the road markings. That prompted two surprised trail walkers to step back and look on.
The confusion, while smoothing out over the past weeks, continues at times on a roughly half-mile section of Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive, when the lanes were recently chip sealed and reconfigured.
The two eastbound lanes between Mullan Avenue and Potlatch Hill Road were reduced to one, and a new bike lane was created. There's a buffer lane for a short stretch close to Mullan that may eventually become a grassy swale or some type of barrier to separate the trail as it is for most of Coeur d'Alene Lake Drive.
The two westbound lanes in that area also became one.
There’s a new, wide center lane, designated by yellow striping for turns, that's not often used.
Got all that?
You’re not alone if you don’t.
The new alignment has left some a bit baffled as to why the changes were made in connection with a trail that is popular with cyclists, walkers and runners.
In a humorous letter to the editor, James Miller of Coeur d’Alene wrote, “... it is finally agreed to make the street striping as confusing as possible, leave the entire center section paved and totally unusable, place all bicycle lanes as close as possible to the single-traffic lanes, put up as many painted road signs as possible to help direct unsure traffic and then try to figure out how to sell this abomination to the public.”
Janis Illenstine of Coeur d’Alene was equally annoyed.
“I can’t understand how such a hazardous and baffling design could have been approved,” she wrote.
“The many double white lines make it confusing as to where you can legally and safely turn, enter or exit streets and businesses,” Illenstine wrote.
Chris Bosley, city engineer of the Coeur d'Alene Lake Drive project, said they have received several calls from people questioning the changes.
“There’s a little confusion,” he said.
He said the city is planning additional pavement markings to help clear things up and better define that the trail is only for pedestrians and cyclists. The ultimate goal is “improved safety for all users."
The city recently issued a press release to explain the reconfiguration.
As a part of negotiations for the jurisdictional transfer of Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive from the Idaho Transportation Department to the city of Coeur d’Alene, a master plan was developed for the corridor, the release said.
Public meetings were held and in January of 2018, the Coeur d’Alene City Council approved the master plan and the transfer of Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive from Sherman Avenue to Silver Beach Road.
ITD transferred the remaining portion to Higgins Point to the Eastside Highway District.
Changes to the corridor were delayed until the surface could be improved to allow for the new striping configuration per the approved Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive Master Plan, the release said.
This year, Eastside Highway District and the city partnered to apply a chip seal surface to the corridor.
Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive was also reconfigured through restriping to the current three-lane section.
"Although no pavement is planned to be removed between the Centennial Trail and the travel lanes at this time, an approved future development between The Coeur d’Alene Golf Course and Bakery by the Lake will provide the desired separation at the time of construction,” the release stated.
In the short-term, additional pavement markings will be installed on the Centennial Trail to better define it as strictly for use by pedestrians and bicyclists.
Bosley said the new bike lanes adjacent to the travel lanes are intended for faster cyclists, such as those training for Ironman, to avoid conflicts on the trail with dog walkers and others moving at a leisurely pace.
"Double white lines were installed next to the bike lanes to create a buffer space, providing additional separation between the motor vehicle travel lanes and the bike lanes," the release said. "The new bike lanes on each side of the roadway are designed for one-way traffic, as indicated by the arrows."
Additional double white lines were installed to separate the bike lane from the Centennial Trail.
A two-way left turn lane was added to provide safe left-turn areas and separation between directions of travel. Prior to the restriping, no left turn lane was available at The Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course, according to the release.
"The new configuration for Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive meets the intent of the Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive Master Plan, increases separation between the Centennial Trail and motor vehicle traffic, reduces potential trail conflicts, improves safety for turning vehicles, and reduces future maintenance costs," the release said.
Some still have doubts.
Rick Carr of Coeur d’Alene wishes they had left well enough alone.
In an Aug. 14 letter to The Press, he wrote.
“What was wrong with what we had? Two lanes each direction, a trail lane that accommodated bikes and walkers or runners. Now we have double white lines on the east to west side; double-double white lines going east, another lane marked 'bike' away from the trail and closer to traffic, which does not appear wide enough for even two riders from different directions to pass one another."
“Whoever is responsible for this has some explaining to do!” he wrote.
The Coeur d'Alene Press is a KREM 2 news partner. For more from our partners, click here.
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