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

STA gets $1 million federal grant for West Plains Transit Center

The Spokane Transit Authority has won a $1 million grant for a new West Plains Transit Center alongside Interstate 90 near the Medical Lake interchange.

STA officials said winning the competitive grant validates their plans to improve service to Airway Heights, Cheney, Medical Lake and Fairchild Air Force Base, along with nearby rural areas.

“The value of the West Plains Transit Center is confirmed by the grant,” said CEO Susan Meyer.

It follows two other grants previously won for the project – a $951,000 planning grant from the Federal Transit Administration in 2013 and an $8.7 million mobility grant from the state this year.

Funding to build the $12 million transit center is now in place, Meyer said.

STA hopes to realign and improve service across the West Plains, using the new transit center as a hub for that area, she said.

But the full range of service improvements will hinge on passage of Proposition 1, a sales tax measure on the ballot this November.

If approved, Proposition 1 would pay for a wide range of upgrades across the STA service area, most notably a new Central City Line running from Browne’s Addition on through downtown and the University District to Spokane Community College.

Also, the new federal grant frees up $1 million of local money for other service improvements, officials said.

If the measure fails, service would be limited at the West Plains Transit Center until STA could find money to expand it.

Proposition 1 is asking for a 0.1 percent sales tax increase next April, followed by another 0.1 percent sales tax increase in April 2019, with both taxes running through 2028.

A similar measure in 2015 asked for a 0.3 percent increase in the sales tax and was narrowly rejected by voters.

Currently, STA provides almost no service between the cities on the West Plains and Fairchild.

Riders going from Airway Heights to Cheney, for example, must first ride into Spokane to catch the right bus back out to those cities.

The new transit center would allow riders to change buses at that location rather than in downtown Spokane.

STA staff is going to ask the agency’s board of directors to approve purchase of property on the south side of I-90 at the board’s regular monthly meeting on Sept. 22.

“The property is strategic in the long term,” said Karl Otterstrom, STA director of planning.

He said the transit center will be designed to dovetail with future Medical Lake interchange improvements planned by the state over the next several years.

Bus route No. 66 to Cheney is the fourth busiest in the STA system, largely because of heavy student use during classes at Eastern Washington University. The route has about 650,000 boardings annually, officials said.