G-Prep Revving Up Solutions To Neighbors’ Parking Gripes
People living around Gonzaga Prep say a meeting with the school’s students and administrators about neighborhood parking problems went exceptionally well.
Twyla Moore, a member of the Nevada-Lidgerwood steering committee, reports there was good dialogue, and the school already has taken measures to enforce parking laws on city streets around the campus - even pulling kids out of class to move illegally parked cars.
Residents have been frustrated not only at the illegal parking but by student litter and a general disrespect for homeowners.
Moore, 1021 E. Dalton, and a dozen other G-Prep neighbors met with student leaders and administrators last week to discuss the issues.
One result of the meeting was that students have volunteered to do community work such as shoveling snow for residents around G-Prep, a private, Jesuit high school. Students also promised that parking will be one topic of an upcoming school assembly. It’s illegal in Spokane to park facing the wrong way or too close to a corner, driveway or fire hydrant.
“I think everybody in the neighborhood has calmed down,” said Moore. “I think the school has made an effort and that makes a big difference.”
Traffic mess ends - for now
Construction along North Division Street has taken a toll on the commuting habits of North Side residents.
Consultants looking at traffic patterns around NorthTown Mall say there are now 24,000 fewer cars on Division each day than before widening work at Division and Wellesley Avenue started in July. NorthTown consultants also found there are now actually more cars turning north from Wellesley onto Addison Street than from Wellesley onto Division, the result of drivers detouring around the construction.
The heavy lifting on the project, which runs from Wellesley to Queen, has been buttoned up for the winter, and will not be completed until spring.
New family housing
The findings of a traffic study on the impact of two proposed housing projects south of Empire Avenue between Cook and Lacey streets in Hillyard will be presented at 7:30 p.m. next Thursday at the Northeast Community Center, 4001 N. Cook. A 110-unit apartment complex for families, Westfall Village, is planned on 7 acres. A 62-unit senior citizen apartments, Heritage Heights, is proposed on an adjoining three acres.
North Spokane freeway
There were 80 separate comments mailed to the state Department of Transportation concerning the proposed North Spokane Freeway, and the two extremes might be summed up by two statements:
“My overall recommendation is to drop the North Spokane Freeway from further consideration and eliminate it from our plans,” wrote County Engineer Bill Johns.
Ronald Marksmith, 19606 N. Yale Road, had a different view.
“Yes, Yes, Yes,” he wrote. “I know money is always the bottom line for all these projects, and I would be willing to pay a higher gas tax myself (to fund it).”
State engineers are reviewing all the comments and may have a preliminary recommendation by January. Want to bet their proposal falls somewhere between the above views?
, DataTimes