Strong Cr. Bridge to be replaced

By Lyndsie Kiebert
Reader Staff

The nearly century-old bridge over Strong Creek in Hope is slated for replacement in coming weeks — a project that will alter travel through the area into the summer months.

Photo courtesy ITD.

Idaho Transportation Department spokesperson Megan Sausser said that construction was set to begin next week but has been postponed to start in mid-March due to snow.

“That will affect the overall end date, but we still aim to have work completed by the Fourth of July,” she said.

The Strong Creek Bridge, located on the Idaho Highway 200 business route through Hope, was originally scheduled for replacement in 2020, but ITD decided last year to move the project up. The original structure was built in 1924, and the last serious improvements were made in 1974.

Sausser said the bridge will be inaccessible to vehicular traffic until near completion, at which time flaggers will be present to allow one lane to pass at a time. Until then, drivers will need to use the main highway route along the lake. A detour will be posted with additional signage included in response to public concern about heightened traffic on residential streets.

ITD is waiting to receive a proposal from the contractor about pedestrian access during construction, Sausser said.

The new bridge will feature a concrete sidewalk — rather than its current wooden one — as well as accessible ramps.

Learn more about the project and find updates at www.itdprojects.org.

While we have you ...

... if you appreciate that access to the news, opinion, humor, entertainment and cultural reporting in the Sandpoint Reader is freely available in our print newspaper as well as here on our website, we have a favor to ask. The Reader is locally owned and free of the large corporate, big-money influence that affects so much of the media today. We're supported entirely by our valued advertisers and readers. We're committed to continued free access to our paper and our website here with NO PAYWALL - period. But of course, it does cost money to produce the Reader. If you're a reader who appreciates the value of an independent, local news source, we hope you'll consider a voluntary contribution. You can help support the Reader for as little as $1.

You can contribute at either Paypal or Patreon.

Contribute at Patreon Contribute at Paypal

You may also like...

Close [x]

Want to support independent local journalism?

The Sandpoint Reader is our town's local, independent weekly newspaper. "Independent" means that the Reader is locally owned, in a partnership between Publisher Ben Olson and Keokee Co. Publishing, the media company owned by Chris Bessler that also publishes Sandpoint Magazine and Sandpoint Online. Sandpoint Reader LLC is a completely independent business unit; no big newspaper group or corporate conglomerate or billionaire owner dictates our editorial policy. And we want the news, opinion and lifestyle stories we report to be freely available to all interested readers - so unlike many other newspapers and media websites, we have NO PAYWALL on our website. The Reader relies wholly on the support of our valued advertisers, as well as readers who voluntarily contribute. Want to ensure that local, independent journalism survives in our town? You can help support the Reader for as little as $1.