County Thinks Pond Will Help Runoff Problems Evaporate

The cost of improving 57th Avenue from the Palouse Highway to Perry is rising like stormwater on Moran Prairie.

Spokane County is asking for $700,000 to help finance the purchase of eight acres of land to build an evaporation pond.

Their request will be considered Monday by the Spokane Regional Transportation Council, which has the authority to distribute federal road money to local agencies.

Gary Nelson, plans and contracts engineer for the county, said the project on 57th Avenue already was budgeted at about $2 million.

Drainage problems along 57th are forcing the county to design a pond to dispose of water.

The county is seeking to buy land on the north side of 57th between Cook and Stone. A lined evaporation pond would be built on the property.

The county’s utility division is contributing another $550,000 to the evaporation pond project, bringing the total cost of the land and the pond to $1.2 million.

That means the road widening will end up costing more than $3 million.

County road engineers were forced to design an evaporation pond to comply with emergency development rules adopted by county commissioners last year.

Under the county’s interim official controls, all stormwater must be diverted to lined evaporation ponds for new construction projects, including the street widening.

High groundwater in the Moran Prairie area has caused flooded basements, parking lots and streets in recent years.

The county is developing a long-range plan for a multimillion dollar stormwater disposal system on Moran Prairie.

A consultant said a complete system could cost as much as $20 million, but county officials said they are willing to build what they call a “backbone” system for about $13 million.

Nelson said the evaporation pond along 57th Avenue would be hooked into the future stormwater disposal system being designed by the county. It could be used as a detention pond to hold back water during big storms, he said.

The road improvements call for widening 57th Avenue from 24 feet to 62 feet.

It would remain a two-lane arterial but would have a center turn lane and two outside bicycle or pedestrian lanes.

Growth in southeast Spokane has pushed traffic counts to about 12,000 vehicles a day along the section of 57th Avenue proposed for construction.

Bids on the project will be sought this spring, and work is expected to begin in May. Completion of the project is slated for October.

, DataTimes