Corridor Of Cars Increased Traffic On Ashmaple Corridor Is A Boon For Businesses - Residents Think Differently

For Mike Walker, owner of Jodi’s Java, being in the Ash-Maple corridor is better than being in a coupon book.

As many as 42,000 cars a day drive down both arterials, one half block from his business on Mansfield. The number has almost doubled since the toll was taken off the Maple Street Bridge in 1990.

“I bought the building specifically because it was on the Ash-Maple corridor,” says Walker, who opened two years ago.

Although most of his customers are heading downtown in the morning, the business is strategically located to snag cars heading in either direction.

For years, city planners have complained that the Ash-Maple couplet was underused and was forcing cars onto busier streets such as Monroe and Division. No longer.

At times now, the afternoon peak in particular, the couplet carries as many cars as Division. And it does so faster and with fewer accidents.

This attracts more vehicles, which in turn help business owners but also pose more hazards for those living in adjacent neighborhoods.

One business, at 2126 N. Ash, Tub Cove, the makers of shower and bath inserts, has a waist-high billboard shaped like a stop sign facing inbound traffic on Ash: “Stop Cleaning Messy Grout,” it reads.

Even though the item is not necessarily a spur-of-the-moment thing, Manager Steven Fuhrmeister says the traffic has been an asset.

“I had a contractor come in last week,” he said. “That’s one reason we picked this spot; we get a lot of drive-bys.”

“I would say 90 percent of my business is from drive-by traffic,” said Sheri Tarr, owner of Wee Ones Wear, a children’s used clothing store at 5526 N. Ash. “We’ve never been busier.”

But the traffic has not been as warmly greeted by some residents.

“It’s not the neighborhood to own a pet,” said Ken Decker, a transportation planner with the Spokane Regional Transportation Council.

“If we didn’t have a fence, we wouldn’t have a dog. I don’t like to keep it tied,” said Mondo Brown, 38, a city water employee who rents a house at Gordon and Maple. Although he has a driveway off Maple, he doesn’t use it, preferring to park on the residential side street.

“In the year I’ve been here, I’ve seen four accidents,” said Cindy Engblom, 28, a mother of two young children who lives on Mansfield and keeps her dog chained to an outside fence. “I can hardly let my kids go outside.”

Many new residents aren’t bothered by the traffic, saying it’s only a nuisance during peak morning and afternoon commutes.

“It doesn’t seem to bother us,” said Jody Maier, 27, a cosmetologist who lives near Shadle Park High School. “We lived by a train track before, so its not a whole lot different.”

Traffic planners for the city say cars move fairly well on the corridor, and even though speed is 30 mph speed, it moves closer to 37 mph.

“It carries a lot of cars and it carries them fast,” said Decker.

Frequent intersections - every 300 feet - are the biggest hazards, along with curves around Drumheller Springs, said city traffic engineer Bruce Steele.

“I witness a lot of vehicles running red lights. Even one accident can have a serious effect on the whole corridor,” said Steele.

Those living along side streets also have noticed more cross traffic as those driving Ash-Maple turn down their streets to catch Monroe or to double back and look for a missed turnoff.

Still, the problem of too much north-south traffic on Ash-Maple is relatively new.

The Maple Street Bridge opened in 1958, and for 32 years the corridor had fewer cars than officials predicted. The state, which financed the bridge project, estimated the $6 million in bonds could be paid back with a 10-cent toll.

Low traffic counts made that impossible, and the debt was refinanced in 1981 with the toll increasing. Even then, the average number of cars using the bridge was 12,000 per day, with more cars picking up the couplet north of downtown.

Meanwhile, other north-south roads, notably Division, became congested.

One plan by the city to alleviate Division backups and lessen the need for a Division-Ruby couplet, now a reality, or a north-south freeway, was to increase the use of Ash and Maple.

Still, the toll was an obstacle, and for years lawmakers in Olympia balked at removing it until the bonds were repaid.

Then, in 1990, Seattle-area lawmakers needed support from Spokane politicians for an increase in the state gasoline tax. In exchange for the votes, the toll, then 25 cents, came off.

A week later, the number of cars crossing the bridge doubled to 33,249. By the time the bridge was closed for resurfacing in February 1993, it was carrying close to 40,000 cars a day.

Today the number of cars reported at Augusta on the couplet exceeds 41,000 - more than Division street in 1988 when planners looked to AshMaple as a solution.

This overall increase is unexplainable and exceeds even what espresso stand owner Walker was told would happen by city planners.

Decker, a regional transportation planner, said the situation is typical of what happens when roads are built or improved.

“Even we undershot it,” he said. “Where did all these cars come from?

“It was like releasing a latent demand. People who didn’t make the trip before now make it.”

As areas such as Indian Trail, Nine Mile and Suncrest develop, planners hope to enhance the Ash-Maple corridor without repeating the mistakes of Division Street. Although land uses may change to commercial and multifamily, access may be restricted in order to keep vehicles moving.

Some even see a potential for light rail.

The dynamics of this scenario already are playing out in the marketplace. More and more homes between the streets are being used as affordable rentals.

Brown, for instance, pays $395 for a two-bedroom house, garage and fenced yard.

And businesses catering to the automobile and those on their way home - from a car wash and pizza parlor to a windshield repair shop and video store - have popped up everywhere.

All this doesn’t help people like Engblom, the mother of two.

“I plan on finding someplace safer to live,” she says.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: A history of the Ash-Maple corridor Here is a history of major events along the Ash-Maple corridor. 1949: Campaign started by civic leaders and Mayor Arthur R. Meenach to build a new bridge over the Spokane River. Traffic cards filled out by motorists in later years indicate Maple-Ash would be the appropriate location. 1954: Design and construction of bridge approved. 1956: Bonds totaling $6 million are issued for the bridge with estimates that they might be paid off by 1985. 1958: The Maple Street Bridge opens with 10-cent toll, and Ash and Maple are converted to oneway streets from Broadway to Northwest Boulevard. 1961: One-way designation extended to Francis Avenue 1967: Maple extended north from Francis to Country Homes Boulevard. 1981: With traffic counts down due to rising gasoline prices, the state proposes raising toll to 20 cents to meet bond payments. Comments at public hearings and the city argue for a 25-cent toll, which takes effect. 1981: Safeway store is approved for Northwest Boulevard between Maple and Ash. Streets widened to three lanes. 1990: The bridge now carries 12,000 vehicles per day, far less than traffic planners anticipated. Cars routinely detour to avoid the toll, causing congestion on other streets. July 13, 1990: Toll removed from bridge in time for Goodwill Games after lawmakers agree to pay off bonds as part of spending plan for 4-cent a gallon gasoline-tax increase. July 22, 1990: A week after tolls are removed, the number of cars crossing has doubled to 33,249. Feb. 11 1993: Bridge closed nine months for resurfacing, forcing 39,000 vehicles per day onto alternative routes. Bruce Krasnow