Portland firm hired for streetcar study

The Spokane Regional Transportation Council Board selected a firm Thursday to study the possibility of building a streetcar system in downtown Spokane.

URS Corp. of Portland will study where a streetcar system could be routed, what kinds of impacts it might have on economic development, how much it would cost, how it could be funded and what type of service could be provided, said SRTC Director Glenn Miles.

“This is a feasibility study. It’s not saying it’s going to be built,” Miles said.

As proposed, a streetcar line could stretch from Browne’s Addition on the west to the Riverpoint campus on the east, and from the hospitals on Spokane’s South Hill to the Arena, and possibly even the West Central Neighborhood on the north, he said.

The study would determine if all those areas would get adequate ridership to support the system.

The study is funded by a $130,000 federal grant, $15,000 from the Downtown Spokane Partnership and $15,000 from the Spokane Transit Authority.

It is scheduled to be completed within a year.

SRTC board member and Liberty Lake City Councilman Brian Sayrs said he wanted to be sure the study would include chances for the public to comment on if a streetcar is needed and where it would operate.

A public participation component was part of URS’s proposal, Miles said.

Board member and Spokane City Councilman Joe Shogan said he’d like to see a streetcar go to the West Central Neighborhood to help with its economic development and revitalization efforts.

But County Commissioner John Roskelley, who also serves on the board, said it’s important that a streetcar not duplicate existing bus service in Spokane’s inner city neighborhoods.