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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Traffic fix pegged at $16.9 million

Jeslyn Lemke Staff writer

Traffic is increasing on Airway Height’s main road as the city grows, so the state Department of Transportation is beginning plans to enlarge the route.

DOT officials visited Airway Heights Oct.7 to talk over what the city would like to see change for the U.S. Highway 2 corridor.

The agency’s biggest recommendation is to widen and lengthen 18th Avenue and make it an alternative route, easing the traffic burden on Highway 2. The road is parallel to Highway 2 and would be lengthened from Fairchild Air Force Base to Spokane International Airport. The cost for this in today’s figures would be about $16.9 million.

Heavy traffic is also swamping intersections along Highway 2. At the Hayford Road intersection, for example, there were 43 accidents between 2003 and 2007.

DOT officials are looking at changes for Highway 2’s intersections with Hayford Road, Flint Road and Craig Road.

Airway Heights City Adminstrator Albert Tripp said the highway is seeing more traffic because of multiple new housing developments in recent years and the expansion of the Northern Quest Casino.

City officials will vote on the DOT’s plan this winter and could adopt the plan as soon as next spring.

Get your pet microchipped

You can get a microchip surgically placed in your cat or dog Oct. 24 at the Medical Lake Veterinary Clinic.

The service will be offered from 4 to 5 p.m. for a discounted fee of $35. The chip holds identifying information. If the animal ever gets lost and a person finds and brings them into a clinic or shelter, most places can read the chip and help return the pet.

“A beautiful little black cocker (spaniel) came wandering in loose. No collar, no tags, and they brought it in,” said office manager Sandy Roloff. “We checked it and it was microchipped … we were able to contact her (owner) and reunite them.”

Roloff said the veterinarians will surgically place the chip, about the size of a grain of rice, under the skin and between the shoulder blades of the animal. They use a needle.

“It’s simple, it’s quick, and a relatively painless procedure,” Roloff said.

The animals will also be registered with the HomeAgain organization, a national group that helps place pets found far from their original homes.

The clinic is at 212 E Lake St. For more information, call 299-3675.

An apartment haunting

Things will be getting a bit scary at an apartment complex in Medical Lake Oct. 25, when the public is invited into a haunted “apartment.”

Located at 508 N. Brower St., Apt. 4, the haunted apartment will have its share of ghoulish oddities, but Constellation Properties property owner Jessica Glenn can’t reveal just what. Starting at 5 p.m., you may see boiling cauldrons, witches, vampires and some nice “refreshments,” and then again, you may not. You’ll just have to wait and see.

“I’m not looking to give anybody nightmares but we do want to put some energy into it and do some interactive Halloween displays,” Glenn said.

She recently acquired the 62-unit apartment complex and said she’s putting on the festivity because Halloween is her favorite holiday. And she’d like to benefit the community.

Younger children can play outside the apartment, where there will be refreshments. For more information, call Glenn at 325-4294.

Contact correspondent Jeslyn Lemke by e-mail at jlemke12@yahoo.com.