One-way study could move Post Falls in new direction
Post Falls may soon be switching the way traffic runs on parts of Seltice Way and Mullan Avenue, a proposal that has rankled some in the business community.
City engineer Bill Melvin said kinks are being worked out of an agreement between Post Falls and the Idaho Transportation Department for the state to manage a $125,000 yearlong study paid for mostly with federal grant money. Post Falls provided $10,000 in matching funds, he said.
Engineers from David Evans and Associates will assess the viability, cost estimates and impacts to the business community of making Mullan and Seltice one-way streets beginning at Idaho Street on the east side of the main drag and ending where those two roads connect just past Chase Road on the west side of town, Melvin said.
It’s a serious look to the future, he said, because the city’s long-range transportation master plan indicates traffic in that corridor of town will clog roads so badly that the transportation system could fail without some type of fix.
But business owners like Rob Simon, of Rob’s Seafood at the corner of Seltice and Spokane Street, believe changing the traffic pattern will be a major speed bump to economic viability.
“If you take half the traffic off the street, you’ve lost half your business,” Simon said.
He and Post Falls Mayor Clay Larkin both said the issue needs to be closely studied to avoid what they consider to be the one-way fiasco in Spokane Valley. The Sprague couplet was created four years ago and sends traffic west on Sprague Avenue and east on Appleway Boulevard between University and Fancher roads.
“One of my favorite sayings is, ‘It’s two blocks to go to the bank, but 10 blocks to get back,’ ” said Dick Behm, owner of Behm’s Valley Creamery in Spokane Valley, of the twists and turns he believes are needed to navigate the Sprague couplet.
Behm and others in the Spokane Valley Business Association commissioned a study by a Gonzaga University professor and student of the effects on Sprague businesses. Of 70 businesses responding, 58 reported they lost 27 percent of their business after Sprague was changed to a one-way street, the study states.
Another issue is that one-way streets are intended to speed traffic through areas, which means less “spur of the moment shopping,” said Eldonna Gossett, president of the Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Melvin said that’s why Post Falls has commissioned the analysis that should be completed next summer. “We know it’s controversial and it needs a real thorough look,” he said.
Melvin said the process will include workshops for citizen comment and opportunities for business owners to sit down with engineers.
Behm said he does not think Post Falls would benefit from on-way streets.
“If all they want to do is move traffic there, it’s wonderful,” he said. But if the city wants to have a positive economic impact in that corridor, “it’s not going to happen.”
Simon said business owners are discussing several alternatives to the proposal.
“Some owners have talked about petitions, but I think it’s a little early for that,” Simon said. “We’ll wait till the first meeting and see what happens.”