Mead Schools To Benefit From Road Work
A plan by Spokane County to widen and improve Farwell Road will also allow the Mead School District to improve its athletic fields, beef up auto and pedestrian safety and increase parking.
“It’s a win-win situation,” said Al Swanson, an assistant superintendent for Mead School District.
Under the agreement, the county would acquire 30,302 square feet of school district property for the project in exchange for $140,139.
Of the county money, $22,700 is for the property itself. The remaining $117,412 is to compensate the district for damage to the athletic fields and parking areas at Northwood Junior High School and Farwell Elementary School.
With the money, Mead plans to reconfigure the fields, fill and seed land that’s now vacant, and install a new irrigation system.
In the end, Mead will have two regulation-size soccer fields, a regulation slow-pitch softball field, and parking for 104 cars, up from the 80 spaces now available.
The parking will also be moved between Pittsburg and Crestline so it can be used by both schools and people playing league sports.
“In terms of space we’ll have the same amount, but we end up with a better configuration, more parking and safer access,” Swanson said.
The county expects work on the Hastings-Farwell Road project to begin as soon as weather permits in the spring. Work will take most of the summer, said Ross Kelley, project engineer for the county.
The roadway will be widened to 70 feet, almost double its current width, for its entire length from Highway 2 to Highway 395.
That’s enough space for five lanes, curbs, sidewalks and bike lanes.
The county expects to use either concrete or heavy asphalt to build the road in order to accommodate truck and school bus traffic. Of the 10,000 vehicles a day on the road, 20 percent is buses or trucks, which use the route as a link between Highway 395, Highway 2 and Market Street.
Of the $3 million the county expects to spend on the road project, $700,000 likely will go to buy right of way, Kelley said.
, DataTimes