Lincoln Street work to wait
Mayor cites extensive talks between city, neighborhood
The Lincoln Street rehabilitation and storm water project, which was on the list of street improvement projects to be finished in 2009, has been postponed to early 2010. The street part of the project is funded by the 10-year street improvement bond voters passed in 2004.
The project consists of curb-to-curb rehabilitation of Lincoln Street between 17th and 29th avenues, and a storm water overflow management project called Lincoln Street Spokane Urban Runoff Greenway Experiment or SURGE.
A letter from Mayor Mary Verner’s office announced the delay last week.
Verner wrote that the project was postponed because “neighborhood members and city of Spokane staff spent considerable time this year working together to come up with the very best project for Lincoln Street.” It’s these meetings and discussions that have held up the project, she said.
Dennis Anderson, president of the Manito Neighborhood Council, wrote in an e-mail that the neighborhoods wanted a project that would be supportive of the established tree canopy and enhance pedestrian safety.
“The ‘curb extensions’ that are designed to manage storm water overflow will also provide for traffic calming and an additional green space along the street,” Anderson wrote. “It will not be beneficial or detrimental to the tree canopy. No trees will be lost on this project and that is consistent with the wishes of the neighborhood.”
SURGE will divert 86,000 gallons of storm water from the regular sewer system during a rainfall by channeling it into a separate piping system and a subsurface draining system in Cannon Hill Park. This is done to reduce the burden on the city’s wastewater treatment plant, and it’s being paid for by the city’s Wastewater Management Department.
The City Council selected MDM Construction of Hayden as the contractor for the project at a council meeting on Sept. 14. Verner wrote that the contractor will begin some work this fall, including improvements in Cannon Hill Park, but that street rehabilitation will not begin until spring.
“Ultimately, though, I believe we will have a far better project for the neighborhood and the community as a whole,” she said.