Thor-Freya construction drops burden onto Eighth

If you look hard, you can almost see a line of cows walking down narrow, dusty Eighth Avenue.

But Eighth isn’t a country lane; it’s in Spokane’s busy East Central neighborhood. And while it’s barely more than an alley and too narrow in places for more than one car to pass, unpaved Eighth Avenue has become a shortcut for many drivers trying to avoid the traffic jams caused by construction of the Thor-Freya couplet.

And the city of Spokane has no plans to improve it.

Many south Spokane residents know that in a maze of dead-end roads, Eighth Avenue is one of the few that runs through to points east and west of Thor and Freya. For those who want to avoid backups at the traffic signal at Fifth Avenue, Eighth is seen as the quick way over to Altamont Street or down to the Fred Meyer store.

People who live in the area have seen traffic on Eighth Avenue steadily increase over the years, but since construction began on the Thor-Freya couplet, it’s jumped dramatically.

Neighbors wonder why the street wasn’t improved before construction began.

Teresa Simon knows firsthand how treacherous Eighth can be.

Simon lives on the west side of Thor and can’t cross the traffic to turn north, so she uses Eighth to travel around the block.

“You can’t make a turn there if someone is sitting there,” said Simon of the intersection of Thor and Eighth.

Her vehicle was rear-ended by a large truck on Thor Avenue while she tried turning westbound onto Eighth.

She couldn’t complete her turn because an eastbound vehicle on Eighth was using the entire road. The driver behind her didn’t slow down enough to stop when Simon stopped.

The block between Thor and Freya is just as bad, said Shirley Howard, who lives along it.

“It’s been crazy, I tell you,” she said. “People are hollering and yelling. We can’t get out.”

City Engineering Services Director Tom Arnold conceded that more people are using Eighth Avenue than the city intended.

Keeping the road narrow helps discourage traffic, he said.

The city has graded and oiled the street, but won’t pave it unless residents along its length vote to pay the bulk of the costs themselves through a local improvement district, Arnold said.

The city could pay for 30 percent of the project, he said, adding that the city doesn’t own enough land on portions of the street to build a proper roadway.

Simon suggested that Eighth Avenue be turned into a one-way road for westbound traffic, but Arnold said that might hamper traffic flow in the neighborhood, causing problems for other residents.

Jerry Numbers, chairman of the East Central Neighborhood Council, said the entire neighborhood should meet to discuss such issues.

“Too many times we have do-gooders from one part of the neighborhood who think they’re going to save another part,” he said.

Numbers said he hopes that after construction is complete this summer, the problem will be eliminated.

Until then, Arnold urges calm.

“Construction is hard to deal with. That’s why we’re asking for the citizens’ patience on that.”