The city of Spokane has selected DKS Associates, of Portland, to prepare a traffic improvement study for the University District and downtown Spokane.


The firm, which specializes in transportation forecasting analysis, is being asked to collect public input and consolidate information from at least 11 different Spokane-area transportation studies to balance the needs of pedestrians, economic development, and traffic corridors, says Val Melvin, traffic planning engineer for the city.


The study will identify possible traffic projects for the U District and downtown, she says.


We anticipate it will take 15 to 16 months to get the alternatives identified and clear the public-input process, says Melvin.


The study cost will not be known until the city has gone through the scoping process with the consultant, says Melvin, but the city currently has a $200,000 federal grant to get the work under way. It hopes also to get additional funding from Gonzaga University, the Spokane Regional Transportation Council, and possibly others, she says.


The city expects to receive money for the project from the Spokane Convention Center, but Melvin didnt know how much yet.


We start this project with no preconceived notions, she says. We want DKS to bring all the elements together to see what will work best. Then, reality will set in, and well see what financing can be found to pay for the (proposed) improvements they identify.


The Portland firm already has identified four subconsultants it plans to work with on the project, including one from Spokane and one from Coeur dAlene, says Melvin. She says Jim Kolva Associates, of Spokane, will provide land-use assistance on the project, and Northwest Dynamics LLC, of Coeur dAlene, will help generate public involvement. Other sub-consultants DKS has named, both from Portland, are URS Corp., to work on concept design, and TW Environmental Inc., to work on environmental issues.


DKS has a background in studying traffic-signal operations and coordinating traffic lights for optimum pedestrian, local traffic, and regional traffic uses, Melvin says. She says one goal is to find a balance between regional connectors such as Division Street, the Maple-Ash couplet, Monroe Street, and Hamilton Street; the downtown bottleneck; growth in North Spokane; and connections to Interstate 90 that she says are very dependent on the Second and Third street couplet.


In essence this study affects the whole city, Melvin says.


Gonzagas interest in the study is focused on making Sharp Avenue more accessible to pedestrian traffic, Melvin says.


She says the study likely will address the proposed Riverside Avenue extension from Division through the University District, which is another area of concern for pedestrian traffic. Also in the U District is a stretch of Spokane Falls Boulevard that formerly was called Trent Avenue and which will be given consideration to make it pedestrian-friendly, she says.


In addition to the 11 traffic studies DKS expects to use in its study, it also might use transportation-related information from U District master-plan studies done for Washington State University at Spokane, Eastern Washington University, Gonzaga, and the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute, says Melvin.


Included in the 11 studies are the U District Strategic Master Plan, City of Spokane Downtown Plan, Convention Center Traffic Impact Analysis, Monroe Street Bridge Traffic Study, and the Downtown Parking Study, among others.


They are mutually exclusive and have competing demands, she says.