The city of Spokanes newest six-year street plan, which is expected to be adopted by the City Council June 30, includes three sizable projects, totaling $13.5 million, that would beautify two downtown streets, make North Division more friendly to bikers and pedestrians, and do both of those things on part of East Sprague.


The projects have been added to a list of more than 100 in this years version of a plan that the city issues each year as a guide to future work, says Katherine Miller, a senior engineer with the city. The three projects arent scheduled yet because the city hasnt found money to do them. The plan includes $92 million worth of other projects that are funded and that the city plans to do over the next six years.


One of the three wish-list projects is a $4.4 million streetscape enhancement of both Lincoln and Monroe streets between the Monroe Street Bridge and Third Avenue, Miller says. Traffic on Lincoln there is one way north, and swings west to Monroe at Main Avenue.


Businesses on those stretches of Monroe and Lincoln have shown an interest in having business-district improvements and amenities done like those that have been added in the Perry Street district, on Perry between Ninth and 12th avenues, Miller says.


Amenities such as new sidewalks, decorative lampposts, pedestrian benches, flower containers, and trash receptacles could be added to those parts of Monroe and Lincoln, she says. Miller says such beautification projects are added to the citys six-year street plan only when neighborhood support has been shown for it, since many of the upgrades must be maintained by businesses or neighborhood groups.


Another major Spokane project that could be years down the road involves improvements to make North Division more attractive to commuters who walk, ride a bicycle, or take the bus on that busy corridor between the Spokane River and the North Division Y, Miller says. That proposed $5.8 million project would include adding such features as additional bus shelters, as well as bicycle lanes to allow cyclists to cross Division at major intersectionsthough bicycles arent permitted on Division itselfupgrading sidewalks and wheelchair ramps, and constructing a $3 million pedestrian bridge to enable pedestrians to walk up and over Division in the vicinity of NorthTown Mall, Miller says.


The envisioned Division Street work is based on the results of a cooperative study, paid for by the city, county, Spokane Transit Authority, and Washington state Department of Transportation, to analyze how transit service interacts with pedestrians and bicycles along that corridor, she says. That study, along with another examining transportation in the University District, has spurred the addition to the six-year plan of more alternative transportation-related projects this year than usual, Miller says. She adds, however, that many of the citys street projects include improvements for pedestrians or the addition of bicycle lanes.


In a third hoped-for project, the city is eyeing a $3.3 million business-district improvement project for the East Central area of Sprague Avenue, similar to the improvements that would be done on Monroe and Lincoln. The project would improve sidewalks and add pedestrian-friendly amenities on Sprague between Helena and Altamont streets. Miller says Spokanes Neighborhood Business Centers Program, a program of the citys Business and Development Services department, has been a source of support for that potential project.


Identifying potential projects such as these three on the six-year street plans list of unfunded projects helps make them viable enough for the city to seek dollars for them, says Miller.


When they get in the program, theyre real enough to seek dollars from state and federal sources, Miller says. She says the citys six-year street plan also serves as a summary document to show potential grant sources what the city is planning in terms of its overall efforts.


Several big-ticket projects already are slated over the next half-dozen years, including the long-planned $19.4 million Havana Street railroad overpass scheduled for construction in 2009. Miller says few new projects have been allotted money this time around, although upgrades of traffic lights around the city, a continuation of the streetcar feasibility study, and planned future pavement maintenance around the city have been added.


Contact Jeanne Gustafson at (509) 344-1264 or via e-mail at jeanneg@spokanejournal.com.