County derelict on road

I read with fascination John Craig’s story about Spokane County’s Engineering Department layoffs. Mr. Craig reported that Engineer Brueggeman is “optimistic that a sidelined $66 million project to widen Bigelow Gulch Road will get back on track in 2013.” Mr. Craig went on to say, “that project is on hold while state and federal officials iron out problems in the county’s right-of-way acquisition procedures.”

Unsaid is what needs to be “ironed out”: a corrupt and incompetent process by county officials to pressure people to sell their land to the county for a boondoggle.

The result is failure to provide an important but modest road improvement for Bigelow in favor of a de facto completion of the north Spokane freeway that would destroy our community of Orchard Prairie.

The county never attempted to sensibly solve the safety issues of Bigelow Gulch Road. The engineers boasted of a grander scheme. So, nothing has been done to make it safe for law enforcement to patrol the road. No corners have been modified. No shoulders widened. No speed limit reduced. And serious accidents are routine.

To top it off, the county refuses to meet with us to discuss solutions until the issues are “ironed out.”

Lorna St. John

Chair, Prairie Protection Association

Spokane