Idaho Falls city council approves Northgate Mile plan

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - People and businesses in the Northgate Mile -1st Street area of Idaho Falls could see some changes in the near future after the city council approved the findings of the area-wide planning study Thursday evening.

Kerry Beutler, the assistant planning director for the city of Idaho Falls, said the study involved getting feedback from residents and business owners in the area.

"Traffic circulation, also just amenities and improvement to the areas both in code enforcement and looking at blighted areas," Beutler said. "But also just additional amenities like improved streetscapes, lighting, those types of things."

That feedback went into the plan the council approved.

Beutler says now come the next steps.

"The planning office will start to work to try to implement that plan," Beutler said. "So that plan has specific goals, additional conversations that need to be had, other implementation strategies so we'll just start working on those one by one and see if we can get as many done as possible."

Those plans include new parks, housing, and a new police station.

The whole process will take years, but North Hi-way Cafe owner Roxanne Smith is looking forward to it.

"It has a lot of traffic, and a lot of people go down it all the time, and it's nice that they're showing some interest on that, cause I can see it helping the whole city, not just where we're at," Smith said.