Renewed Market Street reopens to traffic

After 133 days of being closed, Market Street through Spokane’s Hillyard neighborhood has reopened to traffic with new pavement, sidewalks and street lights and safer crosswalks.

During the height of construction this past summer, the street was an excavation pit.

For local businesses, customer traffic was down by as much as half in an area that has struggled over the years to keep going.

“I am just happy the businesses have made it and we didn’t lose any to speak of,” said Dave Griswold, a neighborhood leader.

“I think everybody will be glad to see it open,” said Jim Solomon at United Hillyard Antique Mall at 5016 N. Market St. “We’ve already started to get more people.”

The improvements have drawn a new Chinese restaurant to the district, and two more antique shops may open in the area known for good antique hunting, Solomon said.

The $7 million in improvements were made in part to revitalize the historic business district while the street was being rehabilitated under a 2004 voter-approved bond issue.

Money for the sidewalk and pedestrian improvements came from a pair of state grants.

The decorative sidewalks from Heroy to Columbia avenues have what are known as “pedestrian bulb-outs,” pieces of sidewalk that extend partially into the roadway at the intersections to shorten the crossing distance for pedestrians and to signal that drivers should slow down.

The Hillyard neighborhood steering committee also allocated $207,000 of its federal community development grant funds to make similar improvements on Queen Avenue for one block east and west of Market Street. Another $50,000 in community development funds was set aside for street trees.

Sections of sidewalk concrete are stamped with images of locomotives as a reminder of Hillyard’s railroading past.

Replica historic “acorn” street lamps with light-emitting diodes are yet to be fully installed. The poles are in place, and the Spokane City Council has approved purchase of the LED lamps, Griswold said.

Older buildings were refitted with higher-volume water lines, which will be needed if the commercial buildings are upgraded with second-story residences.