State Boosts Valley Couplet

Thu., Oct. 23, 1997

Angie Gaddy Staff Writer

The state is helping pave the way for the new Spokane Valley Couplet.

On Friday the state Transportation Improvement Board formally approved the Valley Couplet plan, and gave Spokane County $2.4 million to help pay for the $18.7 million project.

The 2-1/2-mile couplet will run between Interstate 90’s Sprague Avenue interchange and University Road. Eventually, it will extend all the way to Liberty Lake.

County engineers hope to begin construction in the year 2000.

Following the couplet’s approval by the state, the Spokane Valley Business Association on Monday dropped the lawsuit it filed against the county to stop the South Valley Arterial, a traffic-improvement proposal that preceded the Valley Couplet plan. The business group filed the suit in 1994 on behalf of nearly 20 plaintiffs.

The South Valley Arterial was to have been a four-lane, limited-access road from Thierman to University that generally would have followed the old Milwaukee Railroad right-of-way.

“We feel very strongly that this current project does meet the goals and the objectives of the citizens and community,” said Martin Burnette, spokesman for the Spokane Valley Business Association, a group formed specifically to oppose the South Valley Arterial.

“The (earlier) concept was good for planning, but the devil was in the details, and that’s what we needed to stop,” Burnette said. Other plaintiffs in the lawsuit ranged from Valley auto dealers to environmental groups.

Business owners were worried about limited access to the Sprague Avenue commercial strip.

Environmental groups worried about traffic noise and pollution. The Dishman Hills Natural Area Association was concerned that the South Valley Arterial would have cut an acre out of the nature preserve.

Now the couplet plan, which county commissioners approved in May, is on its way with full support from the business association.

“This is not a limited-access arterial like the original plan,” Burnette said.

The new plan will change Sprague to a one-way, westbound road. It will have five lanes, including a car-pool lane, plus a bicycle lane. Eastbound traffic will flow along First Avenue, then jog south to Second Avenue at Park Road. The couplet’s eastbound leg will have four lanes, plus a bicycle lane. It won’t have a car-pool lane, but there will be room for expansion.

Michael Hamilton, president of the Dishman Hills Natural Area Association, said although this plan does not cut into the nature area, the association will still consider purchasing land along First Avenue to provide a buffer for the 530-acre natural area.

The association opposes any change to commercial or light industrial zoning that might be proposed along the couplet route after it is completed.

“We’re long-term thinking people,” Hamilton said of the 805-member association.

Right-of-way acquisition of property along the eastbound route of the couplet has already begun, but with state approval and funding, the county can begin purchasing land in “full earnest,” said Ross Kelley, assistant county engineer.

Right-of-way acquisitions will account for $10 million of the project’s cost. Some of that money will be used to help displaced families get into new homes, county officials said.

The county will first begin purchases in areas with high population density, including Rose Haven, Woodland Park and Vista mobile home parks between Park and Lewis Roads.

The Washington State Department of Transportation is rebuilding the Sprague Avenue interchange. The new interchange, which will cost a total of $45 million, will connect the Valley Couplet with the freeway.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: TAKE A VIDEO TOUR Spokane County, along with the Spokane Transit Authority and Washington state Department of Transportation, has produced a video that will take commuters on a computer-animated drive along the Valley Couplet. The eight-minute video offers a three-dimensional view of the 2-1/2-mile couplet, planned for construction in 2000. The video shows traffic flow exiting from Interstate 90 at a newly rebuilt Sprague Avenue interchange, then heading eastbound along the First Avenue, jogging onto Second Avenue and then turning back to travel west on Sprague. The video was produced by Promo Prose, a Spokane company. It cost $4,500, with funding split three ways by the county, the state and the STA. County engineers said they think the new video helped secure those funds. “I think it helped them understand what we were doing,” said Ross Kelley, assistant county engineer. The county Public Works Department plans to show the video to citizen and community groups upon request. For more information or to arrange a showing of the video, call 324-3268. Angie Gaddy

This sidebar appeared with the story: TAKE A VIDEO TOUR Spokane County, along with the Spokane Transit Authority and Washington state Department of Transportation, has produced a video that will take commuters on a computer-animated drive along the Valley Couplet. The eight-minute video offers a three-dimensional view of the 2-1/2-mile couplet, planned for construction in 2000. The video shows traffic flow exiting from Interstate 90 at a newly rebuilt Sprague Avenue interchange, then heading eastbound along the First Avenue, jogging onto Second Avenue and then turning back to travel west on Sprague. The video was produced by Promo Prose, a Spokane company. It cost $4,500, with funding split three ways by the county, the state and the STA. County engineers said they think the new video helped secure those funds. “I think it helped them understand what we were doing,” said Ross Kelley, assistant county engineer. The county Public Works Department plans to show the video to citizen and community groups upon request. For more information or to arrange a showing of the video, call 324-3268. Angie Gaddy

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