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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spokane officials looking ahead to bond for next round of street fixing

With only three summers worth of projects left on the city’s 10-year street bond project, Spokane officials are starting to draw up plans for another round of road reconstruction for the next potential street property tax.

The 2004 street bond will have paid for $110 million worth of projects when work is completed. It’s been deemed by most political leaders as one of the city’s greatest successes of the past decade. Administrators say they expect work to be completed on time and on or under budget.

Even so, many streets untouched by the bond are crumbling and leaders say the city’s maintenance budget doesn’t provide enough for proper upkeep of what’s been reconstructed by the tax.

Spokane Mayor Mary Verner, in a question-and-answer session after her State of the City speech Friday, said she hopes the city will ask voters for a new street bond, perhaps in 2013.

“That was the first phase. We all know that we have many more streets in the city of Spokane that need to be reconstructed,” Verner said. “The pothole fixes will not work until we rebuild the underlying streets.”

Dallas Hawkins, chairman of the Citizens Street Advisory Commission, the body created to oversee the bond projects, said he expects planning for a new bond to begin in the next few weeks. He said the city must plan properly for the next bond so voters know what would be included and officials can be held accountable for accomplishing the work.

“If we are true to the cause and explain and tell folks that we’ve done what we’ve said we would do and we have finished these projects on time and on budget, I think we would garner support,” Hawkins said.

Although work from the 2004 bond is likely to be completed in 2013, taxpayers will be footing the bill for an additional decade.

“It’s going to make it a little tougher sell,” Hawkins said.

Meanwhile, controversy continues about whether to delay some street bond work to redesign streets to make them more pedestrian and business friendly.

Earlier this week, Spokane City Council members Richard Rush and Jon Snyder voted against a $2.5 million contract to reconstruct Second Avenue between Arthur and Howard. Rush said simply smoothing the pavement won’t help spur economic development east of downtown, in an area adjacent to the University District. Some blocks of the thoroughfare don’t even have sidewalks on both sides of the street, and Snyder said a lack of fire hydrants could inhibit growth.

“It strikes me that seven years ago we decided that we wanted to buy an Edsel, and, by golly, now that we’ve accumulated the money to do that, times have changed and we ought to be looking at a Chevy Volt,” Rush said. “We shouldn’t be building something as anachronistic as this and not leveraging private investment that this University District revitalization holds the promise of.”

Verner and most City Council members, however, say street redesign and most pedestrian and bicycle upgrades weren’t part of the 2004 tax that voters approved and should be added to projects only if grant or other funding is available. They say redoing Second in a way similar to the recent enhancement of Market Street in Hillyard would take years of planning.

“This isn’t even an Edsel,” said Councilman Bob Apple, taking a cue from Rush’s metaphor. “This is a Cadillac. This is the best. This is what the voters asked us to do.”

The council voted 5-2 to move ahead with the reconstruction of Second Avenue as planned. The work mostly covers paving between curbs, though the new street will include a separate bike lane east of Division Street, said City Engineer Mike Taylor. West of Division, a lane called a “sharrow” will be marked for bikes, but it will be able to be used by cars or bikes.

There’s growing support for including money in the next bond to pay for “complete streets” upgrades, which could include pedestrian and bike improvements and redesigning routes in a way to increase business growth.

“I just hope that as we move forward with the new street bond that we’re thinking strategically,” said Councilwoman Amber Waldref, who voted in favor of moving ahead with paving of Second Avenue this year.

Hawkins said he supports including some money for some complete street projects “within reason” in the next bond proposal. Considering inflation and possible upgrades, the next round could reach $150 million, he said.

Meanwhile, the city is looking at new revenue sources to help it better maintain the streets that the bond is fixing.

On Tuesday, the Spokane City Council is considering a $20-per-vehicle tax. The council rejected a similar proposal last month.

The city also is lobbying in support of a bill introduced in the state House that would allow city councils to levy street fees on utility bills if voters agreed to them.

“I support giving the local municipalities tools in their toolbox, and they can choose whether or not it’s the right fit,” said one of the bill’s sponsors, state Rep. Andy Billig, D-Spokane.