Improving the appearance along Interstate 90 off-ramps is an idea that has idled on the wish lists of some Spokane-area business and city leaders for years. Now, key players in cities along the corridor are working together to move the idea into the fast lane.

Recent dialogue has involved mayors and others to develop plans for what are called I-90 "gateways," which typically include landscaping and signage at entrance points into the cities here.

A July 11 meeting drew mayors and representatives from the cities along the I-90 corridor in the Spokane area, as well as from Visit Spokane, the Downtown Spokane Partnership, the state Department of Transportation, Spokane County, and others, says Marla Nunberg, DSP vice president.

People at the meeting discussed I-90 gateway plans, signage improvements, funding sources, and potential common design elements, Nunberg says.

"The DSP was meeting on some downtown gateway concepts, and we heard (Spokane County Commissioner) Mark Richard was doing the same thing with all the city mayors," she says. She adds that group members then decided to meet jointly "to see what the commonalities would be."

Additionally, the city of Spokane in early August applied for up to a $500,000 state grant toward at least $805,000 in initial design and construction of gateway improvements at the freeway interchanges of Maple-Walnut, Lincoln, and Division streets, as well as adjoining roads.

"We refer to them as the big three—Maple, Lincoln and Division," says Jan Quintrall, the city of Spokane's director of business and development services. "We're looking at several different grants."

She adds, "There are more exits into the city from I-90, but anyone coming here to shop is going to get off one of those three exits. Our No. 1 attack is going to be Division."

The DSP helped draft the city's grant request to the Community Economic Revitalization Board, a state panel that received $5 million in appropriation authority for 2011-2013. It funds public infrastructure that boosts economic development, and if the city's request makes it past a first application phase in October, a final decision is expected by early next year.

Nunberg says a separate funding request was filed Aug. 4 by Spokane County on behalf of municipalities here, the DSP, Visit Spokane, and the county to seek Spokane Regional Transportation Council funds toward improved signs from the freeway into major city arterials. It would fund the design of a system called "way-finding" with recommended Spokane-area placement of directional signs at specific points geared for motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians.

"All you'd have to do is produce the signs and install them," Nunberg says. The signage will help visitors get from point A to point B, she adds, and "to bring them from the road to the cash register, to the hotels, and to the attractions."

SRTC, as the regional transportation planning organization for Spokane County that receives federal, state and local government funding, recently sought requests for projects that are to be paid for with $22.5 million in funding under its Surface Transportation Program for 2013-2016. The funding categories include 10 percent each in roadway improvements, preservation, construction, and an "other" category for such items as traffic management and transportation enhancements.

"We're in that other category, and we're competing for a portion of that 10 percent," Nunberg says. The transportation council is expected to approve a priority list for the funding in early November.

For gateway enhancements, Nunberg says the cities of Spokane, Spokane Valley, and Liberty Lake currently are developing concepts.

"The whole idea is, let's come up with some design elements, and then the municipalities as they have money can do what they can, but here are some design elements we have agreed on in order to have some consistencies," perhaps on an a la carte list from which to pick and choose, she says.

Nunberg adds, "One thing we can work on as a group is that you feel welcome in all these areas, and there are some common elements that say you are in the Spokane region."

Visit Spokane President and CEO Cheryl Kilday also attended the July 11 meeting, and she says she felt a sense of energy behind the recent dialogue.

"There is a spirit of cooperation to get it done," Kilday says. "We're looking at what can we do to connect our communities," which might include common themes and fonts on signs, as examples.

While many residents tend to become blind to the appearance of exits because they drive by them every day, Kilday says, that first visual impression is important to visitors and business travelers considering a move here or a stop in the Spokane area as they drive on I-90.

Quintrall says Spokane city leaders also envision broader plans eventually for road construction to improve traffic flow at Division Street as it comes off the freeway and several lanes converge at once.

"That whole area near the interstate and hospital district grew, and that intersection didn't grow into the interchange it should be," she says. "We want to reduce the confusion, and we need to slow the traffic there coming off I-90."

She adds, "That will be millions and millions of dollars."

For now, though, she says she has a mandate from Mayor David Condon to seek immediate clean-up steps and beautification improvements at Maple, Lincoln, and Division.

One action might include the city considering the hiring of a contractor to keep the interchanges clean, Quintrall says.

"My edict from the mayor is we really have to get those gateways cleaned up, and keep them cleaned up, so when people get off I-90, we're sending the right message," she says.