Preliminary designs to convert Mullan Road in the Fort Ground neighborhood into a more pedestrian friendly street, with slower vehicle speeds, are proceeding. As currently proposed, the design provides the City with the flexibility of closing Mullan during “peak pedestrian” events such as Taste of the Coeur d’Alenes. The city’s consultant will continue to draft modifications on the current plan based on comments from the public and city staff. The City Council is expected to review the preliminary design in late August or early September.

Key features of the preliminary design include:

No trees are removed.

• Traffic Circles (not to be confused with roundabouts) are added to promote traffic calming and create a turnaround area when Mullan Road is closed.
• Signage will notify vehicles in advance that the road is closed and there is “No outlet” but vehicles will need roadway space to circle back out.   Traffic circles may also include landscaping or art work.   The City has a traffic circle on West Canfield Avenue one block east of Ramsey Road.
• The parking lot proposed in the concept plan for the northwest corner of City Park is removed and on street parking is provided to replace parking removed from Mullan Road.
• Neighborhood parking is added on Mullan Road to replace parking removed by re-configuring Park Drive.