Bike lanes will be added to SE Blvd.

Bike commuters to downtown Spokane from southeast portions of the city could soon have an easier route to work.

The Spokane City Council voted unanimously on Monday to spend $50,000 to add bike lanes along Southeast Boulevard from Perry Street to between Fifth and Sixth avenues.

Southeast already has been torn up from Perry to Third Avenue for a $2.1 million reconstruction of the street paid for by the street bond approved by voters in 2004.

Acting Street Director Mark Serbousek said the road isn’t wide enough for bike lanes north of Fifth Avenue.

Although money has been allocated for the lanes, a final decision about adding them won’t be made until a meeting is held with residents who live along the street, Serbousek said. That’s because adding the lanes would eliminate street parking.

Spokane resident Daniel Henry, who bikes to work, testified that the cost of bike lanes is small considering the safety benefits they provide.

“It’s going to emphasize that bicycles are part of the flow of our traffic,” Henry said.

Serbousek said money for the bike lanes will come from last year’s budget surplus.

Fairchild AFB

SCOPE station opened on base

A new Sheriff’s Community Oriented Policing Effort (SCOPE) station has opened at Fairchild Air Force Base.

The new office is the result of a partnership between the 92nd Security Forces Squadron and the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office to establish a Joint Crime Prevention Program.

The new station opened Aug. 7 and is housed in the 92nd SFS Building. It will include information about crime prevention for families on the base.

Browne’s Addition

Street repairs will begin next week

The city of Spokane will begin a $1 million road construction project Tuesday to repair streets in Browne’s Addition and Peaceful Valley.

Second Ave. from Maple Street to Canon Street will be closed to traffic and street parking will be prohibited on those streets and on Canon Street from Riverside to Third Avenue.

The project is expected to take two months to complete and will include curb-to-curb rehabilitation of Riverside from Hemlock to the Marne Bridge and First Avenue from Maple to Poplar Streets. Second Avenue from Sunset Boulevard to Coeur d’Alene Street will undergo grinding and overlay.

There will be project meetings Mondays at 9 a.m. at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, 2316 W. First St., for anyone who has questions about the project.

– From staff reports