Following word that certain parts of the project will substantially raise the cost of construction, the total estimated cost of the project is $9.5 million. The funding will be largely covered by the Idaho Transportation Department—the state agency will pay $7 million, while the city will pay about $1.25 million, which includes the additional $250,000. A contribution from the Ketchum Urban Renewal Agency will also be around $1.25 million.

Redoing the Second Street ramp and sidewalk by the Sun Valley Culinary Institute will be pushed to 2025, as will work on the Fifth Street sidewalk. In 2027, a new multiuse path from Sixth Street to the cemetery will be constructed as part of improvements in the northern section of town.

Bus stop amenities like reader boards and bench covers will also be pushed down the road to a date yet to be determined, as will art and history pieces, like signs to direct tourists around town, and possible sidewalk paintings.

Under the plans set to commence this year, ADA ramps along the corridor will be switched from pavers to concrete to save costs. Silva cells—special pavers used to allow tree growth—will be reduced in size for the same reason. Street furnishings will be pushed down the road, too.

Improvements to the Hot Dog Hill sidewalks will be completed by the developer instead. Reconstruction of the sidewalk around Serva Restaurant will be paid for by the city, but Ketchum officials will seek reimbursement for the tasks, said City Public Engagement Manager Daniel Hansen in an interview. The city will purchase trees directly from a tree vendor to save money.

“This is a larger ask than we first set out with, but it also keeps to our goal of good bones for Main Street,” Mayor Neil Bradshaw said. “Let’s make something we’re proud of and not cut costs where we have to cut into the design.”

The additional funds exist within the city’s accounts to pay for the increase, Hansen said.

Councilmen Tripp Hutchinson and Spencer Cordovano on Monday expressed reservations about plans to install left-turn lanes at the intersection of Main Street and Sun Valley Road. Their opposition led to a split vote, prompting Bradshaw to cast the deciding vote. He voted in favor of the current plans and proposed budget increase.

Bradshaw said proposals from the two junior council members to eliminate the left-turn lanes in favor of maintaining parking on Main Street or an increased “road diet”—a term for decreasing the vehicular environment to lower speed in favor of increased pedestrian amenities—are “off the table.” Cordovano and Hutchinson did not readily accept that answer.

“I’d like to hear the Idaho Transportation Department say it’s off the table,” Cordovano said.

“The perspective that I am taking on this is that no decision is [final] until ground has been broken,” Hutchinson said.

He added that he thought the genesis of this whole project was insistence from former Councilman Michael David that the Main Street corridor needs to better accommodate pedestrians.

Councilwoman Amanda Breen disagreed.

“The origin of the project was that the road needed rebuilding and ITD had a certain schedule that they wanted to do it on, which we did not agree with,” she said. She added that she was also in favor of the changes David suggested but that they ultimately did not work.

“I frankly was very persuaded by the road diet as well, but the fact of having to push [that plan] out—possibly for years—and putting it on a future council, is what made me sort of reluctantly make the decision [I made]. It was a really hard decision,” Breen said.

The left-turn lanes have been the source of much controversy because their inclusion will necessitate the elimination of 25 parking spaces on Main Street, the Express previously reported.

The final contract including the $250,000 cost increase is not yet finished, though the council’s 3-2 vote on Monday granted Bradshaw the authority to sign it upon completion.