Whitworth wants street

A plan to close a portion of Whitworth Drive to traffic near Whitworth University is being considered to improve student safety, but neighbors who use the road to get to their homes are worried such a closure would complicate their commutes.

Though they have yet to submit an official petition to the Spokane County Commissioners, Whitworth University officials want the county to vacate Whitworth Drive from Hawthorne Road to Highway 395 to provide students and faculty safer access to Hawthorne Hall on the corner of Hawthorne Road and Highway 395.

University spokesman Greg Orwig said about 700 students take classes in Hawthorne Hall.

“We ultimately would like to connect it to the rest of the campus without a road running through it,” Orwig said.

“Our hope and long-range plan is to keep Whitworth a pedestrian and bicycle campus,” said Whitworth Vice President of Finance and Administration Brian Benzel.

Residents of a neighborhood along Whitworth Drive east of Highway 395 use the roadway as their primary access to their homes. Those attending a meeting about the proposal last week expressed concerns that if the roadway is closed to vehicular traffic they will have a hard time getting out of their neighborhood.

“I was outraged. It was a land grab,” said Michael Ahern. “It sounds like they’re trying to steal our road.”

Ahern said about 100 homes would be affected in his neighborhood. “There is a big community here that they would be cutting off.”

But Whitworth officials said they would build an on-ramp, just beyond the Highway 395 underpass to allow Whitworth Drive traffic coming from the east to access the highway heading south.

Without such a ramp, the only way to leave or enter the Carriage neighborhood would be from Regina Road. Residents could head north by turning right onto Highway 395, but heading south would require a left-hand turn across four lanes of 50 mph traffic.

Spokane County traffic officials would never let that happen, said County Engineer Bob Brueggeman.

“We would insist,” Brueggeman said of the ramp.

Orwig said that preliminary estimates show such a ramp would cost about $500,000.

If approved by county commissioners, the ramp would be built at Whitworth’s expense, Brueggeman said.

Ahern still calls the move unnecessary, saying drivers respect the crosswalk used by Whitworth students.

Even with a ramp, residents in his neighborhood would no longer be able to directly access Hawthorne Road and Waikiki Road from Whitworth Drive – routes that many use to avoid the heavily trafficked Highway 395.

Benzel said the traffic revision would change travel routes for neighbors, but not “land lock” them.

“Even elementary schools don’t get this kind of preferential treatment,” he said, adding that neighborhood suggestions for speed bumps, flashing lights or a pedestrian bridge were dismissed at the meeting.

“We’re frustrated that they won’t meet us halfway,” Ahern said.

But Orwig said, “Those would address the safety issues, but not connect Hawthorne Hall to our campus.”

Benzel said that while campus officials prefer to close Whitworth Drive, they also want neighborhood input.

“We didn’t do the meeting just to have the meeting,” he said. “We did it to have a deeper understanding.”