Our View: Beyond couplet shift, Spokane Valley needs vision
Spokane Valley has come up with a curious compromise in the never-ending debate over the Sprague-Appleway couplet.
Solomon-like, the young municipality proposes cutting the baby in half. That is, the section of the one-way alignment east of Dishman-Mica Road will be restored to two-way streets, thus placating retail businesses along the corridor, while the section to the west will remain as a couplet, thus facilitating the commuters who prefer the freer flowing traffic it allows.
Whether the hybrid approach will provide a lasting solution is far from clear, because other decisions are unresolved. What, for instance, will happen in the rapid transit arena? When and how will a prospective extension of Appleway east of University take place? How will a civic center envisioned at Sprague and University shape up?
Those and other factors comprise the parts of a transportation whole as Spokane Valley continues to develop its identity as a city. And the people who live in or visit the community ought to be able to count on a thoughtfully planned transportation grid that will be both functional and predictable.
Practically since Spokane County decided to turn the two-way streets into one-way thoroughfares, there has been pressure to reverse the decision. Most of the protest was voiced by businesses whose customers were to be diverted away from signage and entrances. A majority of drivers – once they got used to the new patterns – came to appreciate the improved ability to navigate efficiently between work and home.
When Spokane Valley incorporated, it was saddled with the county’s decisions and found that the federal funds it expected would be available to extend the couplet farther east weren’t there.
What is there, however, is a bundle of federal requirements. In short, Spokane Valley has to find a way to turn what has become a major east-west arterial into a pedestrian-friendly downtown street.
A century ago, the Sprague and Appleway corridor was the main link between Spokane and Coeur d’Alene. As development filled the once-rural space in between, and Spokane-Coeur d’Alene traffic took to Interstate 90, multiple local origins and destinations came to be, creating the demand for a major commuter route that the couplet was intended to be.
Now, the city of Spokane Valley is under pressure to calm that traffic and develop a downtown in a place where none was anticipated.
It will do no one any good to reconfigure transportation routes every few years in response to the latest political pressure. The city needs a comprehensive, long-term plan, based on reliable traffic and growth predictions.
The city needs to take its time, make sure it has complete information, and present a detailed plan. It’s not a project that should be approached piecemeal or in haste.