Dispute Halts Road Work Indian Trail Project Put In Limbo

A contractor has stopped work on the Indian Trail Road widening project while the city struggles to resolve a year-old right-of-way dispute with developer Harlan Douglass.

At the peak of construction season, tractors and backhoes sit idle on the side of the busy arterial in northwest Spokane.

Black and orange “Keep Out” signs clearly mark the Douglass property on the east and west sides of Indian Trail. His land is right in the middle of the first phase of the project.

“Until they solve this dispute, there is not much work we can do,” said Al Hughbanks of Acme Materials and Construction, general contractor on the project.

“We don’t want to just sit out there and do nothing,” said Hughbanks. “There are other jobs we can do.”

The work that started July 27 will widen the two-lane road from Kathleen to Barnes. Other phases will continue the expansion north to Ridgecrest.

So far, trees, stumps and weeds have been removed from the area to be widened, and there has been some minor excavation.

The first phase is expected to be completed by October, if construction resumes soon.

Douglass claims the city is expanding the road onto his land. He is willing to give the city the land, in exchange for an agreement that the city will provide access to his property, improve storm drainage, and provide a better retaining wall than they are currently planning.

He also wants to be reimbursed for trees recently cut down and removed from his property.

Dick Raymond, who designed the project for the city, said he thinks the disagreement might be rooted in faulty platting dating back to the 1930s.

The city decided not to have contractors start tearing up the road until the conflict is resolved, according to Nicholas Dragisich, assistant city manager for operations.

“If we start tearing up the pavement and the deal isn’t firm, we could find ourselves in a situation we don’t want to be in,” said Dragisich, who joined the city staff about two weeks ago.

“We are trying to resolve this in a way that benefits Mr. Douglass without having to litigate the right-of-way issue,” he said.

Douglass and the city have been deadlocked for more than a year. He filed a lawsuit last August claiming the project would block access to properties he owns on both sides of the road, making them undevelopable.

Douglass said the road design will cause his land to flood. And he dislikes the utilitarian retaining walls the city plans to place between the road and some of his hillside property.

“We are more than happy to give construction easements if we can get these issues resolved,” said Cliff Cameron, a land-use consultant who represents Douglass.

The long-delayed project was dramatically scaled back last spring from the original five lanes down to three.

The city said new information indicated three lanes would be adequate.

City Council members authorized the staff to advertise for construction bids last May. They said the city risked losing state and federal money for the project if it was delayed any longer, and officials believed they had, or would soon have, all the necessary right of way.

At the same meeting, Cameron told council members they were building the road on Douglass’ property.

“Harlan is not to blame in any way for the work being stopped,” Cameron said.

Cameron said his client could have easily taken legal action to stop the work, but chose to continue negotiating with the city.

“We want this thing to get built. If there is any shortfall, it is the city’s inability to make it happen,” said Cameron.