After years of planning, a project to extend Riverside Avenue east from Division Street through the southern portion of the University District is scheduled to start by early 2010.


The city of Spokane has secured the $11 million it needs to complete the first two phases of the three-phase project, and plans to start acquiring right of way within the next two months, says Dave Mandyke, Spokanes director of public works and utilities. Construction of the first phase is to start in late 2009 or early 2010, with the second phase to start one year later. The first two phases are expected to take two years to complete, Mandyke says.


The first phase of the project will extend Riverside east from Division along the north side of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co. line for about a half-mile, nearly to where Sherman Street would be if it were extended there. The extension then will turn to the north to connect with Spokane Falls Boulevard near the eastern edge of the Riverpoint Campus.


The second phase will extend a new leg of the roadway another three-quarters of a mile farther east along the southern edge of the Spokane River. It will pass under the Keefe Bridge, and connect with Trent Avenue to the north near Perry Street.


The first two phases have been funded with a mix of state and federal monies, says Susan Ashe, the citys director of legislative and public affairs. Local funds are expected to cover the cost of the third phase, Ashe says.


The estimated cost of that phase and a construction schedule havent been determined yet, she says. The third phase would connect with Sprague Avenue to the south, she says.


The project will include providing right-of-way space for possible light-rail development in the future.


Plans to extend Riverside were included in the citys six-year street plan as early as 1993. In recent years, city officials have said one of the main reasons for extending Riverside is to divert traffic away from Spokane Falls Boulevard, which runs through the middle of the University District just north of where the Riverside extension would be built. The extension is one of the top priorities among infrastructure projects outlined in the master plan for the U-District.


Plans for the road project took a detour last spring when city officials, prompted by the findings of a consultant group that was studying further development plans for the U-District, considered changing the route of the extension.


The consultants found that moving it one block north to Main Avenue could make the Riverpoint Campus more pedestrian-friendly because the Main extension likely would have been narrower than the Riverside extension. Ultimately, though, officials decided to stick with the original plan, primarily because the Main extension would have broken up large parcels that will be needed for future building projects on campus, says city spokeswoman Marlene Feist.


Contact Emily Proffitt at (509) 344-1265 or via e-mail at emilyp@spokanejournal.com.