Vocal Point: Couplet must accommodate our changes in habit

What should we do with Sprague Avenue and Appleway? “The Couplet” has received many comments in the paper lately. It is important to all citizens that we have open discussion on where to head in the future. Let me outline the path we have taken thus far.

It would be difficult to deny that Sprague has changed. Many, many buildings are empty and U-City was once a central, vital part of our community. Now we have new choices for shopping – the Valley Mall and Sullivan, for example. This is not a trend limited to Spokane Valley. It is one happening throughout the country. People’s shopping habits have changed, and we need to accommodate that change.

With this change is the need for a city center for Spokane Valley. Citizen surveys have shown we want a city center and that the preferred location is University City. What should it look like? Who should build it? Where should it be located? What should its traffic pattern be? These are all questions the Council has had to ask. To that end, we engaged some world-class consultants to help us dig out the answers. These are folks who have built successful city centers in other cities when their main streets were changing and the citizens were changing their shopping habits.

They have recommended we choose a core zone in the University City area consisting of about 20 acres, one that has high visibility and is available for development. They have also recommended mixed use (high density housing, business and office) between major intersections along Sprague and high density housing along Appleway

This brings us to the traffic patterns. How can we make our City Center the most successful possible? The consultants held four community meetings – one specifically on transportation. After their presentation at that meeting, only one of 14 tables of citizens wanted all one-way streets. The consultants recommended we use two-way streets because this is the traffic pattern that makes it easy to get to and from our City Center, it best serves the mixed use planned for Sprague, and it best serves the high density housing along Appleway. We also learned that big box retail stores that may be needed in the city center will not build on one-way streets.

But the consultants went further than that. They analyzed the possible traffic volumes in the year 2030 to compare the two-way proposal with the one-way proposal. The difference between these proposals is one minute when traveling from Mullan to Interstate 90 and zero minutes when traveling from I-90 to Mullan. Is that a significant delay? Not in my book.

But I remember the “old,” two-way Sprague. It was bumper-to-bumper traffic and was miserable for commuting. I don’t want to return to that. However, comparing the old Sprague with what is being proposed is invalid. It is a comparison of a single, seven lane road with a system having both a five lane road and a four lane road. It is simply not an honest comparison. Our goal is to provide a street system that provides an easy commute, good access to our new City Center, and good access all along both Sprague and Appleway. To learn more about this Sprague/Appleway Revitalization Plan, visit our Web site at www.spragueappleway.com.

The Council will be considering all these issues in the next few months. No decisions have been made, for we are still looking into all the alternatives and costs. Please let us know of your concerns. I can be reached at 688-0047 or by e-mail at bgothmann@spokanevalley.org.