Valley may pass on grant funds for sidewalk

Residents along South Blake Road in Spokane Valley are telling the City Council they don’t want the sidewalk that is proposed for the east side of Blake, between Eighth Avenue and the unfinished part of Appleway Trail.

The sidewalk would cost $335,000 and be mostly funded by $270,000, which is part of Spokane Valley’s share of the county’s $1.3 million federal Community Development Block Grant allocation. If the Valley decides against building the sidewalk, the CDBG funds will go to other projects in the county.

Krisinda Marshall, who lives on Blake, has testified in front of the council several times.

“Many of my neighbors are very frustrated by this,” Marshall said, at last week’s council meeting.

In a phone interview after the meeting, Marshall said speeding and car accidents have increased on Blake, where she’s lived all her life. She said nearly all her neighbors are opposed to the sidewalk, which she said would do nothing for pedestrian safety because the reckless driving is worst at intersections.

“A sidewalk wouldn’t make any difference when you are in the intersection,” Marshall said. “We need to get other issues fixed here before we get a sidewalk.”

The sidewalk project was presented to the City Council in October by Spokane Valley’s economic development director Mike Basinger. He told the council that the project could be adjusted to meet the CDBG funding, so there would be no extra cost to the city.

CDBG funding must go to projects in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods and score a high priority in the county’s CDBG program. This sidewalk is a high priority because it connects a trail to a street.

Mayor Rod Higgins said the Appleway Trail has helped clean up an area that previously saw a lot of loitering and illegal camping.

“The trail shines a light on people and activity there,” Higgins said. “Before the trail was built it was a lot worse.”

According to Deputy Mark Gregory, spokesman for the Spokane Valley Police Department, the Appleway Trail generated nine mentions in the department’s dispatch log between June 1 and Nov. 30 – none were reports of burglaries or violent crime.

Building a sidewalk is ultimately the city’s decision as the city owns the right-of-way and does not need neighbors’ approval.

However, Higgins said if neighbors are very opposed to the sidewalk it may be better to hold off for a bit even if it means turning down the CDBG funding.

“We may be better served by backing off instead of putting something in the neighbors don’t want,” Higgins said.