Road project puts old trees at risk, rankles residents

A few Coeur d’Alene neighbors are hoping to uproot a plan for widening Prairie Avenue and save a few trees.

The avenue is set to be widened to five lanes next year. Gordon Cofield, a property owner along Prairie Avenue, planted several trees in front of his property 40 years ago as a future sound barrier. These trees could be wiped out by the widening.

“We won’t be able to hear ourselves talk,” said Cofield.

Cofield’s trees are on the highway district right-of-way, established in a 1910 plat.

The new highway will be 70 feet wide with 5-foot swales and sidewalks on both sides. The road will be expanded to the north, but the planned swales to the south could force Cofield’s trees and several others to be felled if an alternative isn’t found.

Cofield and a few neighbors attended a planning workshop Monday at the Post Falls Highway District office to speak out about the plan.

Jim Shelly, owner of a 1910 house a few doors down, said he supports Cofield’s efforts to keep the trees as a barrier. The swale was omitted in front of Shelly’s property because of his property’s historical significance. He said he would rather see no swale than no trees.

But he said neighborhood negotiations with the highway district to keep the trees have been “futile.”

“They don’t want to listen to the fact that they could keep the road straight from my place all the way to Atlas and . . . have a nice, clean design,” said Shelly. “Instead, they want to take away the trees.”

When he moved into his home 18 years ago, he saw about 10 cars a day. Now, 10 cars pass in a few seconds.

Lynn Humphreys, Post Falls Highway District commissioner, said the trees belong to the highway district because of where they were planted. With numerous developments and more than 2,000 homes planned for developments along Prairie Avenue, Humphreys anticipates the road to become a main vein of subdivision traffic.

But Jeri Midgley, a neighbor who attended the meeting, said property values and privacy are more important.

“The trees won’t only help with the sound, it’s the peace of mind to not have a thousand cars in an hour go by and be able to look in my living room,” said Midgley.

The trees, at 35 to 40 feet, are too tall to be relocated, but continued growth would likely destroy the planned sidewalk, Humphreys said.

The $5.7 million project is a joint effort with the Lakes Highway District, he added, and reworking the plan could mean losing federal funding set aside for road work.

Highway District officials considered comments but won’t make a decision until July 7 at the soonest.

“We’re not really ogres up here,” Humphreys said. “We just have to be able to make an intelligent decision that benefits everybody as best we can.”

Construction on the one-mile section between Ramsey Road and Huetter is expected to begin by summer 2005. The widening project will likely continue in one-mile sections until the road reaches Highway 41, Humphreys said.