Changes for Main Avenue

Business and property owners along West Main Avenue between Browne and Division streets want to turn their neighborhood into something a little more people-friendly.

They are proposing to turn West Main into a two-way street with additional street trees and pedestrian amenities, including curb “bump-outs” that slow traffic and make it easier for pedestrians to cross the street. They also believe Main could be converted into a boulevard with a tree-lined median.

Over the past several years, the block has seen a steady revival with a string of new businesses and redevelopment projects. Improvements along the street would help the neighborhood build on those successes, proponents say.

The arrival of dining establishments, antique, lighting and clothing stores, condominiums and community services has turned the long block into one of Spokane’s key gathering places. Much of the change has occurred since the House of Charity moved to its new facility at Pacific Avenue and Browne Street in 2000.

Several of the old brick buildings that line both sides of Main are listed on the Spokane Register of Historic Places, and some thought is being given to creating a larger historic district in the area.

West Main, with its shops and historic facades, should be considered an urban connection between a developing University District east of Division Street and the central business district to the west and Riverfront Park to the north, said John Waite, owner of Merlyn’s Science Fiction and Fantasy Store, 19 W. Main Ave.

“Right now, we have a lot of concrete and, in my mind, a lot of dead area,” he said.

Main Avenue doesn’t carry as much traffic as other arterials in the downtown area, and converting it to a two-way street likely would not create any traffic problems, Waite said.

Other cities, including Walla Walla, have converted one-way streets back to two-way, creating better environments for people to get out of their cars and spend money, he said.

Waite is part of the Main Street Improvement Association, which is promoting the two-way street idea.

The association has scheduled two meetings to talk about the proposal. The first will be Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in the Community Building, 35 W. Main Ave. The second will be next Thursday at 7:30 a.m., also at the Community Building.

Dave Sanders, community coordinator at the Community Building, said the proposed change would fit in with the need to encourage walking and using mass transit instead of traveling by automobile.

“Maybe we need to start planning for a different way to transport and move people,” Sanders said.

Bold moves such as creating two-way streets are necessary to keep urban revival going, he said. Another idea that should be seriously considered is a real rail trolley – not diesel buses with rubber tires.

Waite said property owners would consider several possibilities for funding improvements, including a local improvement district that would levy a property tax on owners.

The proposed project also may qualify for transportation grants and community development funds.

Similar improvements to the business district on south Perry Street were funded in large part with federal transportation enhancement funds, along with contributions from neighborhood community development funding and the Spokane Transit Authority.

Mayor Dennis Hession recently created a citizen task force to look at ways to use community development funds for economic development, and the downtown area is being studied by a consultant for traffic improvements.

“Main isn’t a big traffic-bearing street,” Waite said. “Main unifies the city east to west.”