Pedestrian Long Bridge reopens

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

The pedestrian portion of the Long Bridge is again open to non-motorized traffic, less than a month and half after the Idaho Transportation Department closed the span due to deterioration of support infrastructure below the bridge deck that posed a threat to public safety.

According to the department, the reopening — which took place July 14 — came after “an intensive effort by engineers, bridge inspectors, maintenance crews and a local contractor to design, fabricate and install custom steel support brackets beneath the bridge at its most critical locations.”

Crews installed the brackets, referred to as “saddles,” under the bridge deck to shore up some of the girders where the most severe damage was observed by inspectors. Officials stated that the brackets are intended to balance the weight of the structure, which allows pedestrians, cyclists and other users to traverse the span, built in 1956 and converted to non-vehicle use when the current motorized Long Bridge entered service in 1981.

However, those using the pedestrian bridge must stay in designated areas, with portions that remain unsafe marked with traffic control devices such as cones, barrels and caution tape.

ITD stated that while the bridge reopening provides continuous crossing between Sandpoint and Sagle, those traffic control devices will be replaced with “more substantial barriers that are better suited for long-term use.”

“This is not a return to normal,” stated ITD District Engineer Ryan Hawkins. “The bridge remains in need of additional repairs in several locations, but the emergency stabilization work we’ve completed allows us to safely reopen access while we continue ongoing evaluation, planning and work.”

ITD has underscored its reluctance to have closed the bridge, and acknowledged the “understandable frustration for many community members” who relied on the pedestrian bridge for transportation as well as recreation.

The reopening will come in time for the annual Long Bridge Swim, which is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 1.

Local nonprofit Project 7B hosted a community survey following the closure of the bridge in June, and reported on July 13 that of the 732 respondents, more than 74% said they use the bridge for recreational cycling. More than 47% use it for “special occasions,” such as fundraising, photography and spectating the Long Bridge Swim, while 8% said they don’t use it at all.

More than 31% reported using the pedestrian bridge “multiple times per week” and 19% said they use it weekly during the warmer months, though only about 6% and 10%, respectively, said the same for the colder seasons.

To meet the needs of those who use the pedestrian bridge as a connection between Sandpoint and Sagle, the SPOT bus launched a new route with regular service between the Selkirk Loop Welcome Center on Superior Street in Sandpoint and the former-Long Bridge Grill on U.S. 95 in Sagle.  

Project 7B’s survey found that 9.4% of respondents said the cross-bridge SPOT bus route “fixed the issue for them.”

ITD spokesperson Heather McDaniel told the Reader in an email that SPOT would suspend that service on July 15, but that bus officials were “open to reactivating the route in the future if there is enough desire from community users and also if funding partnerships can be identified to assist with the cost of providing that service.”

During the closure, SPOT’s Long Bridge shuttle route was supported by ITD in the form of a matching portion of the grant funding used to create the route.

Those interested in seeing the route return, or organizations interested in exploring a funding partnership to support transit service across the Long Bridge or further south into Sagle, are encouraged to contact SPOT at 208-263-3774.

Going forward, ITD engineers will continue evaluating needed repairs to the pedestrian bridge and the department emphasized that users stay on the designated pathway and never move or remove cones, barriers, caution tape or other traffic control devices.

Community members were relieved to know the bridge was reopening, as Project 7B reported: “The solution that the vast majority of the survey respondents favored was fixing the bridge ASAP, even if the fix wasn’t perfect — which is the solution that happened.”

According to one commenter to Project 7B, the bridge “feels like the heart of the area — the water and boats passing below, trains and cars bustling back and forth on each side, eagles and airplanes soaring overhead, the sunlight tracking through the sky. I love the energy and connection I feel when standing on the bridge, and it inspires me to be part of this community.”