The Spokane Regional Transportation Council is getting set to select a manager for the huge proposed Bridging the Valley Transportation project, which has grown in estimated value by $20 million, to $270 million.


The government agency is expected to conclude a 46-day period for accepting qualifications from interested engineering firms on Friday, Nov. 21, and it plans to name an overseer for the project by the end of this year, says Glenn Miles, SRTC transportation manager.


Its unclear, though, just when construction of the project might move forward, since it hinges on receiving federal funds that have yet to be approved.


Representatives of 16 engineering firms attended a pre-submittal conference in late October for the project, Miles says. If funded, the Bridging the Valley project would reduce the number of at-grade intersections between roads and railroad tracks from 72 to 16 over a 42-mile stretch between the Valley and Athol, Idaho, Miles says. The SRTC is finalizing a two-year study of the project and plans to release it later this month, he says.


We found that grade separating the majority of the crossings in the corridor would be possible, Miles says.


The Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce proposed the project in 2000 as a way to spur economic development in the Valley, by reducing congestion and delay time for drivers halted by passing trains. The chamber and SRTC also want to make the railroad corridor safer. Currently, about half of the railroad corridors crossings are in the Valley.


The project would eliminate many at-grade crossings by building roadway underpasses and overpasses. The work would stretch to where Idaho state Route 54 intersects with both the Union Pacific Corp. and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co.s lines in Athol.


Another component of the proposed project involves combining the tracks of those two railroad lines, which parallel each other through the corridor.


We found that it is both physically and operationally possible for the Union Pacific to move over to the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe railroad corridor, Miles says.


SRTC received a letter from the railroads supporting the consolidation last month, Miles says.


The letter received by SRTC was signed jointly by Union Pacific Executive Vice President of Operations Dennis J. Duffy and BNSF Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Carl R. Ice. It called the project acceptable and said in part, Our companies recognize the advantages of working together with the community to improve public safety while increasing rail-related economic-development opportunities that exist in Spokane and Kootenai counties.


Miles says, The community went to the railroads, asking would they be willing to participate. They have been very cooperative.


The SRTC board authorized $4.2 million in federal funds it received earlier to pay for the preliminary engineering and design phase, which will begin as soon as an engineering firm is selected to manage the project.


Construction of the project is contingent upon Congresss approval of a federal transportation package due for reauthorization in 2003. Members of the Valley chamber, SRTC, and many Valley residents are urging approval of the funding for the project.


While project supporters hope the federal government will cover the bulk of the costs, funding also is being sought from the Idaho and Washington departments of transportation.


The board plans to name a firm or consortium of firms to do the design work by the start of next year, Miles says.


That phase is expected to last 18 months to two years. If the project is funded during the upcoming congressional session, there would be no lapse between design and implementation, he says. Construction is expected to take six to seven years.


Although the railroads might partially fund the consolidation of their lines, they wouldnt contribute to the cost of the initial engineering and design phase, Miles says.


The projects study found that the intersection of Havana Street and the BNSF line near Trent Avenue, an industrial area with a lot of truck traffic, is the corridors busiest intersection. The crossing is closed to vehicular traffic an average of 17 hours a day, Miles says.


People dont use it, because their likelihood of getting across is remote, he says. An overpass would be built there for cars and trucks.


Aside from easing congestion, reducing pollution, and increasing safety, the project also would eliminate much of the whistle blowing required of train engineers when they approach intersections with roads.


When you have 60 trains a day going through the Valley and Rathdrum Prairie, a reduction in the number of times the train has to blow the whistle makes a good impact on the people who live and work in the area, Miles says.


Mike Taylor, President of Taylor Engineering Inc., of Spokane, served on the technical advisory committee for the study, and says the Bridging the Valley project would improve the flow of north-south traffic.


Spokane is a community that is bisected in an east-west direction by (Interstate) 90, a river, two railroads, and Trent Avenue, Taylor says. The more we can consolidate into grade-separated crossings, the more opportunity there is to have free movement of traffic.