Street Project Waits On Grant Parkway Drive Would Foster Development At North End Of Cheney In/Around:Cheney

Thu., Jan. 21, 1999

By Mike Prager mikeprager15@gmail.com (509) 459-5454

The north end of Cheney could be getting long-sought street improvements if the city can land a state transportation grant.

Most of the property owners along the proposed Parkway Drive have agreed to donate land for right of way and pay a portion of the construction costs.

The project price is estimated at $1 million. Two-thirds of that amount could come from a state Transportation Improvement Board grant being sought by the city.

“This would simply provide better transportation circulation,” said Public Works Director Paul Schmidt.

It would also open sections of land for residential and commercial development.

Parkway Drive would run from state Highway 904 to North Sixth Street. It would serve the south side of a shopping center being built by Vandervert Construction of Spokane.

Schmidt said the new arterial will enhance public safety. School buses could use the new arterial to avoid a railroad crossing on Highway 904 just south of Betz Road.

Property owners along the half-mile arterial have petitioned the city to create a local improvement district to finance their share of the cost.

Private involvement enhances the chances of winning the state grant, Schmidt said.

Owners representing 83 percent of the adjoining land are supporting the LID.

The LID won’t be created unless the state awards the grant for nearly $700,000, Schmidt said.

Property owners would put up about $370,000 in the value of right of way and cash raised through property tax commitments.

The project is only for street improvements. Utilities would have to be financed by individual property owners, he said.

Two homeowners along the proposed route could have their properties exempted from payments through a city declaration that their lands are underdeveloped. They would have to pay their share of the LID if their lands are ever redeveloped to a more intense use.

A church that owns an undeveloped piece of land within the LID has not supported the project yet, Schmidt said.

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