Freeway Interchange At Mall Approved County Oks Project Designed To Ease Traffic Congestion On Sullivan, Pines
It took county commissioners just a few minutes Thursday to end more than a year’s worth of wrangling over an Interstate 90 interchange at the Spokane Valley Mall.
Commissioners signed a deal with developer Raymond Hanson that paves the way for a $23.4 million interchange to ease traffic congestion on Sullivan and Pines roads.
Thursday’s agreement also allows development around the mall to resume. The county had placed a moratorium on additional construction until a deal was signed.
“I’m happy I’ve got a deal,” Hanson said after commissioners had signed the documents.
Under the agreement, Hanson will pay $5.2 million as his share of the cost. The county will pay $4.1 million, while the state will pay $12.5 million. The remaining $1.6 million is the value of the land.
Hanson still will have to work out an agreement with Spokane Valley Mall developer Price Development Co. on its share of the cost.
Construction of the interchange is expected to begin next spring and be finished by 2000, said assistant county engineer Ross Kelley.
Last month, commissioners approved a contract to start construction, but Hanson said he wasn’t sure he was ready to sign the document.
The process has been as long and arduous as a sixth-grader trying to read “War and Peace.”
Numerous meetings between county staff, commissioners and developers left the project in limbo and both sides frustrated.
But all that seemed to disappear on Thursday as commissioners quickly voted to approve the agreement and Hanson joked about ski season and his new motorcycle.
Originally, the project was expected to cost $13 million and be finished by this year. But delays and design changes have driven up the project’s cost. The interchange over I-90 at Evergreen Road will be seven lanes wide; its length will span up to 10 freeway lanes to allow for future growth.
Development can now resume at the mall and surrounding retail centers.
“From my perspective, we can do something now,” said Joe Ward, broker for Pinnacle Realty, which handles leasing for Hanson’s property.
Ward said they’ve had numerous inquiries by tenants for the area, but were unable to secure any deals because an agreement was uncertain. Now, they’ll begin to develop the spartan areas along Indiana Avenue, east and west of Sullivan Road.
“It will open up to create a better synergy out there,” he said. “I would expect in two to three weeks we’ll have offers from other tenants.”
Ward said he planned to be on the phone this morning, making calls to prospective tenants.