Big-Bucks Options Are Outlined In Spokane Valley Transit Survey

Should there be a light-rail line running from Spokane to Liberty Lake? How about an express bus route? Carpool lanes on Interstate 90?

What type of development should be allowed - even encouraged - around any new transportation system?

And just how much money should be spent to solve the Valley’s transportation problems?

These are some of the questions the Spokane Regional Transportation Council wants help answering.

The council has published a survey asking what the public thinks of high-capacity transportation options in the Valley. About 600 informational brochures were mailed Dec. 26 to people involved in the commute trip reduction program, employers and others on the council’s mailing list. More were placed at the Spokane Public Library.

The brochure lists three options for the 16-mile corridor between downtown Spokane and Liberty Lake:

A light-rail system;

An express bus system;

Adding carpool lanes to either I-90, the planned Valley Couplet or both.

“We’re trying to get the word out about the major investment study,” said Glenn Miles, the council’s transportation manager.

The council completed the 18-month study in September and has arrived at cost projections on the three alternatives. The light rail system would cost about $300 million. It would cost about $160 million to build either the express bus route or the carpool lanes.

Plans for the busway and the light rail would include three major transit stations - one each at the fairgrounds, the University City Shopping Center and at Liberty Lake. Those transit stops could spur high-density residential and commercial development in the areas immediately surrounding the stations.

Critics have complained about the cost of the rail system. And, they say, once track is laid, it would be difficult to reroute the system to follow changing transportation flow.

The council hopes to decide within a year which option to pursue, and then start work on a funding package. Currently, plans are to pay for a high-capacity transportation system with a combination of federal, state and local funds.

Plans are to have the transportation system open in 2005, Miles said.

This month, the council will begin the environmental assessment of the project, looking at the impact of each of the three alternatives on air and water. Part of that should be complete by the summer, when there will be more public input on the study, Miles said.

, DataTimes