BoCo approves contract for Boyer relocation project

October 6, 2021

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey
Reader Staff

Bonner County commissioners unanimously approved a contract Oct. 5 for work on the Sandpoint Airport’s 2022 Boyer Road relocation project.

The contract, totaling more than $542,000, is with Northwest Grading, Inc. — an arrangement originally approved in May, but finalized at this week’s board business meeting.

It is the latest development in an FAA-funded effort to move a portion of North Boyer Road near Schweitzer Cutoff Road out of the Runway Protection Zone of Runway 20 at the Sandpoint Airport. The work would also include “building a retaining wall and rebuilding the sidewalk/bike path,” according to the Oct. 5 memo that Airport Manager Dave Schuck shared with commissioners.

In February, when Bonner County originally pursued the FAA grant for the project, Schuck told the Reader that a portion of Boyer had been in the Runway Protection Zone since the road was “re-routed many years ago.”

“The FAA wants to clean this up for safety reasons,” he continued.

Schuck told the Reader on Oct. 6 that while the schedule to start work on the project is not yet solidified, “it will likely be sometime next spring.”

“Boyer will be closed to everything except local traffic for a period of time yet to be determined,” he said. “We will be coordinating with the city to minimize impacts by scheduling around any projects they have going that might cause delays or conflicts.”