Indian Trail Traffic Issue Alters Face Of Development

No matter what the Spokane City Council decides about the Indian Trail neighborhood land-use plan, the process has forever drawn attention to the tricky transportation issues in northwest Spokane.

The plan is the first crafted in either the city or the county that so closely links new housing and commercial projects with transportation improvements: it prohibits development until road improvements are planned and funded.

The linkage, a concept known as concurrency, will be imposed on more and more neighborhoods as the city and county come under state growth management laws.

But with Indian Trail the future has arrived.

Initially, the neighborhood task force looking at the area linked development to the construction of a minor arterial along an extended Barnes Road-Strong Road and Five Mile Road corridor.

It also required an STA park-and-ride lot at Indian Trail and Barnes Road and the widening of Indian Trail to four lanes.

But the Barnes Road project has been the most controversial. The proposal, which would cost more than $6 million to build, would allow Indian Trail residents an outlet to Nine Mile Road and a route east without taking Francis Avenue, where intersections fail to meet federal air quality guidelines.

But that solution drew immediate criticism from mega-developer Harlan Douglass, who feared it would halt all new projects for years, and from residents who live along Five Mile Prairie, who feared Indian Trail’s solution would become their problem.

“Why divert another community’s traffic when we are at a maximum? We can’t handle it,” said Denny Horlacher, a Five Mile Prairie resident who spoke to the city plan commission.

The cost of the project, too, became an issue with Douglass saying it’s more economical to employ better low-tech solutions such as street striping and traffic signals. The proposal is not even included in the city’s six-year transportation plan. And for the price tag, fewer than 500 vehicles a day would be diverted from Francis Avenue.

Instead of mandating the project as part of the neighborhood plan, the city plan commission is leaving it up to the City Council to come up with an alternative.

“We didn’t want to lock in on Barnes Road because we aren’t sure that’s the best way,” said Stan Stirling, an engineer who chairs the plan commission. “You may solve 20 to 30 percent of the Indian Trail problem but by dumping it into someone else’s yard.”

Both Stirling and Bob Dellwo, a former city councilman who sits on the plan commission, suggest a better solution may be the longsought county road that would allow commuters in northwest Spokane County and Suncrest - two high-growth corridors - to reach Fairchild Air Force Base, Highway 2 and Interstate 90 via an improved Trails Road.

While there is no immediate way to pay for that plan, which would require a bridge over the Spokane River, the city is moving quickly to alleviate more aggravation for Indian Trail residents.

A plan to widen Indian Trail Road to five lanes from Kathleen to Ridgecrest is being finalized, with construction scheduled to start next year. The plan calls for curbs, sidewalks and bike lanes with the total width of the road going from 44 feet to 65 feet. Signals would be placed at Pacific Park Drive, Barnes Road and Shawnee.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Talking traffic Project meeting An informational session on the Indian Trail Road widening project is set for 7 p.m. today at New Hope Church, 3110 W. Francis.