Hayden's "Temporary" Signal at Ramsey Is Meant to Stay a While. The Roundabout Next Door Still Isn't Open.

Since October 7, a spanwire signal has hung over Hayden Avenue and Ramsey Road where the four-way stop used to be. It has vehicle detection to cut down on queuing and dead time, plus new lighting on the southwest and northeast corners. A few blocks south, Ramsey is still closed to through traffic between Hayden Avenue and Prairie Avenue. Honeysuckle Avenue is closed between Atlas Road and Reed Road while crews finish the new roundabout where those two roads meet.

These look like two separate projects at two different stages. They share one cause. Hayden has already designed most of the west-side intersections it wants. What it doesn't have yet is the land and the outside money to build them. Until it does, the interim fixes are what west-side drivers will use, and some of them are planned to last most of a decade.

A signal described two ways

On its Public Works projects page, the City says the new signal "permanently replaces" the four-way stop. The same page lists a Hayden Avenue and Ramsey Road roundabout as an upcoming project. Its design is finished, and right-of-way negotiations are the next step.

Hayden Reporter's account of the August 25 Public Works update to City Council explains how both descriptions fit. The signals planned for Ramsey and Hayden and for Atlas and Hayden are meant to control traffic while the city buys right-of-way and looks for funding for the roundabouts it has already designed at both intersections. Thorco Inc. won the $142,925 construction contract for the Ramsey signal. That report also notes the signal "is expected to remain for approximately eight to 10 years" while the city lines up the land and money for the roundabout.

The order of steps comes from how grants work. City officials told council that most outside funding programs won't pay for land. A project with its right-of-way already in hand competes better for state grants, and a local contribution from the Hayden Urban Renewal Agency, known as HURA, can make an application stronger still. So the signal handles traffic while the roundabout's paperwork moves through acquisition and grant cycles. For anyone driving Hayden Avenue at rush hour, the signal is the version of this intersection they'll have for years.

The roundabout that keeps moving its date

The Ramsey and Honeysuckle roundabout is the one project on this stretch that has actually been funded and built. Its schedule shows how much the dates people saw on signs differed from the dates in the contract.

In the City's October 7 update, crews were still pouring concrete for the center island and splitter islands. Sidewalks were taking shape, swales were being graded, and striping had started. As of that update, the intersection had not been listed as reopened, and no replacement date had been posted.

The City has also made clear that reopening and finishing are two separate milestones. City Engineer Ty Kovatch told Hayden Reporter in late August:

Oct. 5 "is the anticipated date to re-open the intersection to traffic."

In the same written response, the City said "there is still a lot of work to be completed" once traffic is back. When the barricades come down, expect work to continue at the edges for a while.

Part of the reason this job took longer than a typical intersection: it was more than a roundabout. Below the pavement, the contract included force-main work for the Hayden Area Regional Sewer Board and water lines for the Hayden Lake Irrigation District. The project was first estimated at about $2.4 million and bid at about $1.7 million, and the city's share came to about $1.5 million. After Change Order No. 4, LaRiviere Inc.'s contract stands at $1,749,135.63. The closure also stretched into the school year. LaRiviere was responsible for working out a bus route with the school district around the construction zone.

Atlas, Huetter and Government Way are next in line

The approach used at Ramsey and Hayden, an interim fix now and the designed roundabout later, is planned for the next intersection west, and the rest of the list follows the same land-first sequence.

• Hayden Avenue and Atlas Road. The plan is to widen the intersection first, adding a left-turn lane on each Hayden Avenue approach and one on the south approach of Atlas, and then install a temporary signal. The city hoped to finish the widening before local asphalt plants close for the winter. If that happens, the signal could go in over the winter and be running before next summer's busier traffic. A roundabout is designed but not funded, and the city has reached agreements on nearly all the properties it would need. Mayor Alan Davis has called it one of the city's most dangerous intersections. At the September 22 KMPO meeting, the widening was reported as out to bid. No construction award had been reported as of early October. The posted October 13 council agenda includes an engineering-contract amendment for the Atlas roundabout, not a widening contract.
• Hayden Avenue and Huetter Road. A roundabout is in final design, and right-of-way negotiations come next.
• Government Way and Miles Avenue. A traffic light is planned. The legal descriptions are ready, and money to buy right-of-way is in the fiscal year 2027 budget. That funding is mostly for land, and physical work would require more money, possibly with HURA's help.
• Government Way and Honeysuckle Avenue. A southbound right-turn lane is about 60% designed and part of HURA's fiscal 2027 planning. The amount of land needed is small, but officials have said acquiring it is complicated.

Along the whole west side, the bottleneck is land. Design work is largely done, and each project waits for parcels to be acquired before it can compete for grants.

Honeysuckle Beach's ramp runs on a grant calendar

At the west end of Honeysuckle Avenue, where it meets Hayden Lake, the same grant-first approach applies to the boat launch. The City received a $250,000 award from the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation's Waterways Improvement Fund. Adding a $75,000 city match, the project totals an estimated $325,000. The City photographed what the work is meant to fix: spalling concrete, a worn ramp with poor drainage, and a south dock resting on the ramp. The plan resurfaces and regrades the ramp, shifts the south dock, and adds an ADA-accessible walkway.

The grant application estimated a September 1, 2026 start and a June 1, 2027 finish. The City's last update on this project, dated June 29, said only that construction was expected to begin in fall 2026. The City hasn't published whether the launch or the beach will close during the work. Anyone planning a late-season haul-out from Honeysuckle should look for a newer notice on the projects page first.

Three fall dates on the same corridors

The City's fall events use the roads covered above, so the detours and the new signal will be part of each trip. The City's special events page lists:

1. Friday Night Frights, October 30, 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. This is the seventh year of the drive-through treat giveaway, held at Hayden Meadows Elementary. A local listing gives the address as 900 E. Hayden Ave., which puts the line of cars on Hayden Avenue, the same road that carries detour traffic past the new Ramsey signal.
2. Veterans Day and 2026 Distinguished Veteran ceremony, November 11, 11:00 a.m. It takes place on the McIntire Family Park stage behind City Hall.
3. Hayden Lights Parade and Christmas Tree Lighting, December 5. The parade runs south on Government Way from Hayden Avenue to Honeysuckle Avenue, and the tree lighting follows at McIntire Family Park, 8930 N. Government Way. The parade's south end is the Government Way and Honeysuckle intersection that is still in design for a right-turn lane.

Hayden Reporter has followed the roundabout schedule closely, including photos of each roadside sign change. Between its coverage and the City's projects page, which was last updated October 7, residents can track when Ramsey and Honeysuckle actually reopen.

For anyone who owns a rental or a second home near Ramsey, Atlas or Honeysuckle, these interim years affect commute times, tenant questions and access for maintenance vendors. Talk with the owner-operators at Chelsea Carpenter Hosea about how the west-side road work affects your property, and we'll keep watching the project page with you.