Nethercutt Sees Approval For Light Rail

Thu., April 16, 1998

By Jim Camden jimc@spokesman.com (509) 879-7461

A light-rail system for Spokane County took a step forward this month when the House of Representatives included preliminary approval for such a project.

“It’s a major step,” said Glenn Miles, manager of the Spokane Regional Transportation Council, which is studying the concept.

Rep. George Nethercutt cautioned that the project would receive approval, but not money, if the $110 million authorization remains in the final transportation bill to pass Congress.

The Senate version of the transportation budget does not give the green light to federal money for the light-rail project.

“We’d have to appropriate later,” Nethercutt said Wednesday in an interview with The Spokesman-Review editorial board.

Still, Jerry Lenzi, regional administrator for the state Department of Transportation, said approval is a milestone.

“We’ve never been this far before,” Lenzi said. “It gives us a higher level of visibility for the project.”

The transportation council is in the middle of an environmental assessment for the project, Lenzi said.

Spokane would have to come up with its own source for an additional $110 million, and the state would need to supply a like amount.

As proposed, the light-rail system would connect downtown Spokane with Liberty Lake, using streets, railroad tracks and the old Milwaukee Railroad right-of-way.

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