Interchange Plan Moves Ahead Work May Begin Next Year To Relieve Congestion Near Spokane Valley Mall

A tentative agreement has been reached to build a new freeway interchange near the Spokane Valley Mall.

This week, Spokane County and developers who own land near the mall agreed in concept to fully funded construction of the long-planned Interstate 90 interchange at Evergreen Road.

The agreement goes before county commissioners on Tuesday.

Officials with the state Department of Transportation said they can begin purchasing right of way once the deal is signed. If all goes as planned, construction could begin as early as next year.

That means there eventually will be relief for those who use the I-90 interchanges at Pines and Sullivan roads and the traffic-clogged intersections nearby.

Large-scale development near the mall can also resume.

“We’re there,” said Commissioner Kate McCaslin, who has been helping negotiate with Valley Mall owner Price Development Co. and Raymond Hanson, who is developing the Hanson Center retail complex just east of the mall.

Construction of the $23.4 million interchange has been delayed because of a $7.3 million funding shortfall. The county sought help from developers to make up the difference.

The plan requires Hanson and Price to kick in a combined $5.2 million for the interchange. For now, the county will pay another $2.1 million, which it expects to recover from other developers through latecomer impact fees.

Originally, Inland Empire Paper Co., which owns land near the planned Mirabeau Point community complex, said it would pay $2.1 million toward the project.

However, the company backed out of the deal earlier this year, saying it’s not currently planning to develop its land, which is zoned for agriculture.

If the project exceeds the expected cost, Hanson and Price would have to pay more based on the amount of traffic generated from their developments.

If it’s cheaper, the two would get credit for future development, such as road expansions or putting in stoplights.

For months, developers and the county had been involved in on-again, off-again wrangling over a funding deal.

Developers wanted assurance they wouldn’t be handing the county a blank check. The county wanted assurance the public wouldn’t be stuck with a bigger chunk of the construction bill.

“It’s certainly been arduous,” McCaslin said.

Valley lawmakers, who asked the state Legislature during this year’s session for an additional $2 million to pay for the Evergreen interchange, thought the deal would be done by now.

They asked for extra money because they learned the state transportation department had designed a larger, more expensive interchange.

“They came to me and said they had it worked out,” said former Rep. Mark Sterk, who got the House transportation committee to kick in the extra money.

Sterk said he worries that if a final deal isn’t struck before the Legislature convenes next year, the state may take back the $6 million it has pledged toward the Evergreen interchange.

But if recent work is any indication, the deal looks like a go.

The county had earlier put a halt to further commercial development near the mall until the Evergreen interchange deal was in place.

Hanson, who has been waiting to add a Staples office supply store to his development just east of the Valley Mall, has already started excavating the site. He says he’ll begin construction as soon as the deal is signed.

The interchange funding agreement means development can now go forward, said Bob Boyle, vice president of Hanson Industries. “Staples is a green light,” he said.

There are plans for a hotel across Indiana Avenue from the mall and the Hanson Center, which now includes Gart Sports, Circuit City and other large retail stores. Hanson also has been talking to developers of restaurants, gas stations and grocery stores.

The Evergreen interchange funding agreement is one of the first large-scale deals in Spokane County between local government and private business, Boyle said.

“Maybe in a way we were a test case,” he said. “Maybe next time each side can learn from their mistakes and it won’t take so long.”