Project Description

Riverside Road project proposes to reconstruct approximately 4.5 miles of roadway which accesses the Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge, Bureau of Land Management lands, and United States Forest Service - Panhandle National Forest. This project will address the following concerns:

• Narrow roadway for the amount, and type, of traffic;
• Better accommodate the multi-use nature of the roadway: pedestrians, bicyclists and ATVs;
• Provide a better roadway surfacing;
• Fix poor subgrade issues; and,
• Address any substandard roadway geometry.

Scope of Work

The proposed project will construct an all-season roadway beginning at the Bonners Ferry City Limit milepost (MP) 4.22 to its intersection with Westside Road at MP 8.47 and continue along Westside Road to just past the Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center parking areas at MP 8.75. Riverside Road will also be widened from twenty (20) to thirty-two (32) feet which includes two (2) twelve (12) foot lanes and a four (4) foot wide shoulder on each side providing enhanced safety of the many alternative modes of transportation (bicycle, pedestrian, and all-terrain vehicles (ATV)). Lowering of the levee section has been reviewed and recommended by both the Drainage District (primary jurisdictional responsibility) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The removed earth will be relocated to low areas within the project. The resulting subgrade will be crowned, compacted, a geo-textile segregation installed, followed by crushed aggregate and hot mix asphalt (HMA), per County and Federal Highway standards.