Three groups have teamed up to study the feasibility of bringing fixed-rail streetcars back to downtown Spokane.


The studys supportersthe Downtown Spokane Partnership, the Spokane Regional Transportation Council, and the Spokane Transit Authoritysay the proposal is preliminary. As its envisioned, though, modern-looking streetcars one day could circulate passengers through downtown and into neighboring districts, says Michael Edwards, president of the Downtown Spokane Partnership.


Such a system could spur business development along the rail lines, which has been the result in Portland, Ore., where a streetcar system was built three years ago, he says.


The fixed-rail configuration provides a measure of permanence allowing investors to make more significant investment decisions than they could otherwise, Edwards said in a statement issued by the three organizations last week.


The study will consider a streetcar system that would circulate people throughout downtown and to outlying destinations such as the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Riverpoint Higher Education Park, South Hill medical district, and Brownes Addition.


Glenn Miles, SRTC transportation manager, says it usually costs about $12 million a mile to build a fixed-rail streetcar system. If Spokane decided to pursue such a project, it could seek funds from the Federal Transit Administration, which is considering developing a program that would support development of streetcar systems in U.S. cities.


The city of Portland funded its streetcar system through a variety of sources, including through tax-increment financing, local improvement districts, and local-option taxes, but Miles says the Spokane groups wont know whether such an approach would be used here until the study is completed. Likewise, the study will explore the possibility of tapping into city, state, and STA funds.


The whole question is still wide open, Miles says.


Funds also could come from the private sector or from a combination of both private and public sources, Edwards said in a follow-up interview.


The Federal Transit Administrations involvement would depend on funding from the reauthorization of a federal transportation bill. Congress is slated to take up the bill, on which several projects here are hinging, during its fall session, but Miles says he doesnt expect the package to be finalized until next spring.


Charles Hales, the Portland-based vice president of transit planning for the architectural and engineering firm HDR Inc., spoke in Spokane last week at a meeting about the proposed project. He told an audience of about 100 people here that more than $1 billion has been invested in businesses along Portlands streetcar route, Edwards says.


Miles says the meeting was a positive kickoff of the feasibility study. His organization is the lead agency on the study, although the downtown partnership first proposed the idea.


I think theres a lot of interest in how something like a streetcar would fit into Spokane, he says.


Edwards says the physical fit, at least, wouldnt be a problem here.


The streetcar, because of its size, fits into the urban fabric, he says. Cars and fixed rail would operate in the same space. The streetcar doesnt dominate a street; it removes very little parking; and the customer access is very, very easy.


The streetcars the groups are proposing for consideration have entry doors that are low to the ground, so passengers can walk on without having to take much of a step up. While some cities operate nostalgic-looking streetcars, the groups here are proposing that Spokane consider installing modern-looking streetcars, Edwards says.


Hales called the nostalgic streetcars transpertainment, Edwards says. In other words, its almost like a (carnival) ride. It doesnt attract a business rider going through life function.


Portlands fixed-rail line uses modern-looking streetcars on the weekdays to cater to commuters and nostalgic-looking ones on weekends to attract tourists, Edwards says.


The Portland streetcars run between the neighborhoods of Northwest Portland to an area about 15 blocks away called the Pearl District. Both areas are close to downtown Portland and have evolved into bustling commercial and residential centers in recent years, especially for young professionals.


Edwards says about 6,000 people ride the Portland streetcars a day, which is up 30 percent to 40 percent from the projects first year of operation.


Studying the feasibility of building a fixed-rail streetcar system here will take six months to a year, he says, and comments are encouraged from downtown business owners and the community. Further project details, such as how many cars would operate in the system and when the project would be built, will be determined in the study, Edwards says. Several public meetings will be held, and a steering committee is forming to head up the effort, he says.


If the study shows that such a project is viable here, the groups would seek conceptual-design funds as their next step, Miles says.


One piece of puzzle


The studys supporters say the proposed streetcar project wouldnt displace another project proposed here: building a light-rail line that would connect downtown to Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake. It also has been suggested that instead of light rail, those centers be connected with an express bus service called bus rapid transit.


Rather than working against the light-rail or express-bus effort, the streetcar project would complement whatever type of system is developed, says Mary Ann Ulik, the Downtown Spokane Partnerships director of parking and operations.


Its intended as part of a larger transportation system, she says. Buses, streetcars, and light rail would work together as a whole system. One doesnt replace another.


Ulik says she envisions passengers getting on the streetcars, traveling several blocks, hopping off to do some shopping, and jumping on again to move to another part of town, to their places of work, to restaurants, or to their homes.


Edwards adds, One thing we learned (from Hales) was that a streetcar, more than light rail and certainly more than buses, is two-thirds about economic development and is one-third about transportation.


Meanwhile, the idea of using light rail or bus rapid transit to link downtown to the Valley is inching ahead, Miles says. Meetingsaimed at determining what the minimum length and location of the downtown-to-Valley line would be if the entire envisioned project could not be completedwere expected to be held this week, he says. That project also depends on the federal transportation package, though.


Spokane had a fixed-rail streetcar system downtown for about the first three decades of the 20th century, says Mike Brewer, a former Spokane city councilman whose father worked for the Spokane Transit Authority and its predecessor organizations. The tracks were removed in the mid-1930s when the city began to use buses for mass transit, he says. Before that, though, the tracks crossed the river on the Monroe Street Bridge and again on their own thin trestle parallel to the Post Street Bridge.