A crosswalk was recently painted across a busy Donnelly roadway despite a lack of any apparent pedestrian routes nearby.
The crosswalk spans West Roseberry Road at Kassandra Drive, linking the Donnelly Flyway Trail on the south side of the roadway to undeveloped land on the north side of the roadway.
The undeveloped land is part of the Mountain Meadows Ranch Subdivision proposed by Donnelly developer Craig Groves, who is also working on his Pine Creek Ranch proposal in McCall.
The first phase of Mountain Meadows Ranch, for which preliminary plans have been approved by the Donnelly City Council, would include building a pathway along the north side of the property’s Roseberry Road frontage.
Once built, the pathway would link to a segment of pathway the city completed this summer between Idaho 55 and Growler’s Pizza & Grill. The crosswalk seen on the roadway today would then connect the Roseberry pathway to the Donnelly Flyway Trail, which ends on Dawn Drive.
Groves told Valley Lookout on Wednesday that the pathway segment along his property could be built as soon as next year, pending the completion of plans for city water infrastructure improvements he will be required to fund.
Meanwhile, Valley County Pathways is planning another pathway segment on Roseberry along the south side of the roadway from Kassandra Drive to Dawn Drive. The timeline for that work to be completed is dependent on funding.
Mountain Meadows Ranch background
Mountain Meadows Ranch would be built on 272 acres west of Donnelly between Roseberry Road and Wallace Lane, including about a mile of Idaho 55 frontage north of Donnelly.
Conceptual plans approved by the city for the project’s first phase call for commercial development fronting Roseberry Road and up to 240 homes, apartments, and townhomes.
At buildout, Mountain Meadows Ranch could include 216 apartments, 146 townhomes, 100 luxury RV spaces, up to 250 single family lots, a large community center, and a grocery store.
Safe pathway to school
The city’s Roseberry pathway segment was built this summer with a $250,000 grant aimed at providing safe pathways to and from schools. Donnelly Elementary School is located along East Roseberry Road, or across Idaho 55 from the pathway. A pathway to the school already exists along East Roseberry Road.
The pathway segment switches between asphalt and sidewalk. Groves is currently unsure what surface will be used for his pathway segment.
Without donors like you, this story would not exist.
Make a donation of any size here
The city ordered signs to warn drivers of the upcoming crosswalk, as well as a blinking crosswalk sign like one in place for a crosswalk in front of the elementary school. “Those signs are expected to be installed in the coming weeks,” City Clerk Lori Clemens said.
Also completed earlier this year was the Donnelly Flyway Trail, which winds nearly a mile from Roseberry Road through trees around the Donnelly Airport before ending on Dawn Drive near the Donnelly Boat Docks.
That project, completed by Valley County Pathways, was funded by volunteer work and $20,000 from the Donnelly local-option tax and donations collected during the city’s annual Huckleberry Festival.
