Motorsports fans get increased speed limit
Apr. 13—The popularity of the new motorsports park in North Lewiston prompted the Lewiston City Council to raise the speed limit on its main access road to help accommodate the increase in traffic.
The previous speed limit on Albright Grade was 25 mph, and Monday the City Council voted 6-1 to increase that to 35 mph to help get fans to and from EC Enterprises Motorsports Park more quickly. The venue opened about a month and a half ago, and Public Works Director Dustin Johnson said that while it is in Nez Perce County, Albright Grade is a city street.
Albright Grade saw little traffic before the park's opening, Johnson added. The new speed limit is supported by traffic data, and signage will now be installed to reflect the change. New stripes have already been added to the pavement.
City Councilor Bob Blakey asked if Albright Grade's intersection with State Highway 128 at the Lewiston Rose Garden is now a "can of worms" with the new traffic, and Johnson acknowledged there has been an adverse impact. The park's operators have stationed people at the intersection to help direct traffic when they hold events, he said, but they are working on a long-term solution along with Public Works, the Idaho Transportation Department and Nez Perce County.
Speed limit changes within the city have to be done by the passage of an ordinance, which typically requires three readings at separate City Council meetings. But councilors voted to waive the three readings so they could pass the ordinance in a single night. Johnson said it wasn't strictly necessary, but noted that the park would hold events over the next two weeks that might benefit from an immediate change.
Only Councilor John Pernsteiner objected to the accelerated timeline. He also voted against the speed limit change.
In other business:
Councilors unanimously confirmed City Manager Alan Nygaard's appointment of Johnson to the permanent position of director of public works. Johnson had been serving in the position on an interim basis after the recent retirement of longtime Public Works Director Chris Davies.
Johnson, 42, beat out one other finalist for the position. His starting salary is still being negotiated, but the advertised range was $96,000-$135,000, depending on experience. Davies was making $135,000 upon his retirement.
Johnson has been with the city for about nine months since replacing City Engineer Shawn Stubbers, who left for the private sector. Johnson previously served as the public works director and engineer for Asotin County. Before that, he was a project engineer for the city of Bozeman, Mont.
Councilors unanimously approved a state-local agreement with the Idaho Transportation Department for the coming rebuild of the intersection of 21st Street and 19th Avenue, one of the city's busiest junctions.
The agreement allows the city to go out to bids on the project, which has a budget of approximately $1.3 million. Construction is expected to be completed over the summer. Earlier in the meeting, a citizen commenter complained about the poor condition or nonexistence of sidewalks along the south side of 19th Avenue in front of the Lewiston Center Mall. Blakey asked whether the project would address that issue.
Alannah Bailey, the city's engineering project supervisor for transportation and water, said it would not. But she told the council that the mall's owners are in the process of subdividing the mall property to make it easier to sell, a process that will require frontage improvements like sidewalks. The designs for those improvements are already underway, she said.
Mills may be contacted at jmills@lmtribune.com or at (208) 310-1901, ext. 2266.