Mall’s Use Of Buses Retreats From Original Planner’s Idea

Originally intended to provide bus-friendly shopping, the Spokane Valley Mall is on only two bus routes.

At least until late 1998, most shoppers who rely on the Spokane Transit Authority will have to change buses at least once, and many of them twice, to get to the mall.

There are no buses between the mall and the Sullivan park-and-ride lot, a distance of about a half-mile. And there is no direct route from the Valley Transfer Station.

According to a 1980 draft environmental impact statement, that’s not what Spokane Mall Associates had in mind. That group has since dissolved and the mall was built by JP Realty of Salt Lake City.

Authors of the environmental study promised “adequate bus and passenger facilities will be included in the final design.”

The report also stated, “Over the long term, the (mall) has the potential of functioning as a line-haul transfer point, further increasing the availability of public transportation both on-site and in the surrounding area.”

Speaking during a July tour of the state Transportation Commission, STA planner Christine Fueston said JP Realty wouldn’t donate land for a transfer station, since it could more profitably be used for retail.

STA decided to build the Sullivan Road park-and-ride lot on the other side of the Spokane River instead of paying the high cost for land at the mall.

On Thursday, Fueston conceded that the park-and-ride lot would be more convenient for shoppers if it were in the mall parking lot. But, she noted, there is a bus stop at the mall.

“This (bus stop) is a really good site for us,” she said. “We’re by a mall entrance.”

JP Realty president Rex Frazier would not comment on why the mall’s acceptance of buses changed over the years.

Eight buses an hour come to the bus stop at the mall. Those buses are from two routes: the freeway express, which runs between the downtown bus station and the Liberty Lake park-and-ride lot; and a new feeder to the East Sprague route.

, DataTimes