Couplet A Compromise Traffic Solution County Engineers Propose $16 Million Commuter Route

A commuter road proposed for the Spokane Valley strikes a good compromise between the needs of business owners, environmentalists and commuters even though it could displace more than 100 residents along the route, a study has found.

The Valley Couplet, a $16 million project that engineers hope will relieve commuter traffic on heavily traveled Sprague Avenue and Interstate 90, is being suggested as an alternative to five South Valley Arterial proposals.

The 2.5-mile couplet is planned between Thierman and University roads. Construction could begin as early as the year 2000.

Critics of past arterial proposals, which would have routed motorists onto a two-way thoroughfare along Fourth Avenue, have said that road would hurt businesses along Sprague, encroach upon the Dishman Hills Natural Area and increase Valley Fire District response times.

County engineers carefully addressed those issues when designing the Valley Couplet, according to the project’s draft supplemental environmental impact statement released last week.

The Valley Couplet would keep westbound motorists on Sprague, and would offer increased signage to direct eastbound motorists back to businesses along Sprague. Twelve existing north-south roads will connect the two branches of the couplet.

The eastbound portion of the couplet would run along First and Second avenues and the old Milwaukee Railroad right-of-way. That is north of the proposed South Valley Arterial route, bypassing the natural area.

“As far as a compromise goes, I don’t think this is a bad one,” said Jim Haines, project engineer.

County engineers have said the Valley Couplet, or a project similar to it, is needed to eliminate traffic tie-ups along Sprague and the freeway.

The study supports that claim, saying “roadway improvements are necessary to accommodate the projected traffic increases in the Spokane Valley.”

About 50,000 cars use that stretch of Sprague daily, Haines said. State engineers estimate 105,000 cars pass the Sprague interchange on I-90 each day.

By the year 2010, traffic volume along Sprague between Thierman and University will increase as much as 55 percent, according to the study prepared by Jones and Stokes Associates of Bellevue. Intersections at Thierman, Park and Argonne along that stretch of Sprague will operate below the county’s minimum acceptable level of service, the study predicts.

However, the Valley Couplet will not be built without impacts to residents.

Planned property acquisitions include all of the residential property on the south side of First Avenue from Bradley to Park Roads. About 30 homes along First Avenue, a seven-unit apartment building on Dishman Road and as many as 65 mobile homes in three parks will have to be moved.

Businesses on First Avenue west of Bradley would remain, and some businesses along First and Second Avenues would have frontage property.

Remaining residents adjacent to the Valley Couplet can expect increased noise and disruption of the visual characteristics of their neighborhoods. Textured sound barriers with decorative plants are planned to minimize those effects.

, DataTimes MEMO: These sidebars appeared with the story: CARE TO COMMENT? An open house and public hearing on the project is planned for March 12 in the Ponderosa Room at the Spokane Valley Red Lion, 1100 N. Sullivan. The open house is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., and the public hearing follows at 7. Deadline for written comments on the draft supplemental environmental impact statement is March 18 at 5 p.m. Comments can be mailed to: Spokane County Public Works Department, Division of Engineering and Roads, 1026 W. Broadway, Spokane, WA 99260-0170 Attn. James S. Haines, P.E. A copy of the study is available for review at the Argonne Library, 4322 N. Argonne, and Valley Library, 12004 E. Main.

COMMUTER CONNECTION The Valley Couplet would carry traffic along two sets of one-way routes between Thierman and University roads. A bike lane also is proposed in both directions. Eastbound motorists would travel along a new four-lane road that would be built along parts of First and Second avenues and the Old Milwaukee Railroad rightof-way. Sprague Avenue would be reduced to a four-lane road to carry westbound traffic. The posted speed limit would be 35 mph. Construction could begin as early as the year 2000. The Valley Couplet would eventually connect to the realigned Sprague Avenue interchange on Interstate 90.