Getting There: Preconstruction work redoubles next year for Division Street rapid bus route, slated for 2030 launch

Spokane is still years away from the launch of its second rapid bus route, a north-south equivalent of the east-west City Line that launched in 2023, but work does start next year on the extensive design and public outreach phase for the expansion to the Division corridor.

By 2030, the Division Street Bus Rapid Transit route will stretch 9 miles between downtown Spokane and the Hastings Park and Ride in Fairwood. But before construction can begin, officials have to design the “brand” of the bus line and the 40 stops along the route, said Daniel Wells, director of capital development for the Spokane Transit Authority. The City Line, for instance, has a distinctive black -and -purple striped design, and many of the stops use artwork themed around the different neighborhoods the route passes through.

The transit authority also hopes next year to finish jumping through a number of hoops for the federal government to secure the funding necessary to start, Wells said. Construction of the stations and changes to the roadway are expected to begin in 2028.

Like the City Line BRT, the Division Street BRT will have large electric buses stopping at a given station at least every 15 minutes.

Accompanying the project are plans for a fairly radical transformation of the Division Street corridor, where the car has long been king and many businesses are dependent on the road being a high traffic thoroughfare. By the time the Division Bus Rapid Transit route launches in 2030, a lane in both directions is slated to be converted into a lane prioritizing bus travel, another lane may be converted into a protected bike path, and city leaders are expected to debate land-use changes that would lead to higher residential density.

Changes this size have naturally drawn some controversy, particularly from car-centric businesses like drive-thru cafes and restaurants worried about impacts to their business model. Some of these concerns were expressed in the professionally produced short video “The Disaster on Division,” created in 2023 by local developer and political activist Larry Stone.

But city and regional transportation officials, by and large, believe it’s time for a change on Division.

Ever since the end of the streetcar system that once connected Hillyard rail workers to Spokane, infrastructure investments in the area have reflected the rein of the automobile.

The North Spokane Corridor has been floated as a north-south alternative to Division since the 1940s, but has always seemed to be another decade away from implementation. As that project languished, changes have been made to Division to compensate for the city’s growing traffic needs.

North Division Street was widened in the early ’90s to handle increases in traffic, and in 1994 the one-way Division-Ruby couplet was completed with the hope that it could reduce congestion.

Following this investment, traffic along the corridor jumped nearly 33% from 1992 to 1994, pumping more traffic into north Spokane and adding pressure to other major arterials, according to a 1996 article in The Spokesman-Review.

Fast forward three decades, and the legacy of car-centric infrastructure along the Division-Ruby corridor can be seen in many of the area’s businesses. Six drive-thru coffee shops line a half-mile stretch of the couplet. The roadway is punctuated by car dealerships, fast food chains and shopping centers whose footprint is more parking lot than structure.

The north Spokane freeway, despite numerous temporary setbacks, is slated to be completed by 2030, which officials believe will relieve much of the through-traffic on Division and provide the breathing room necessary to reimagine the thoroughfare.

But while completion of the north Spokane freeway and launching of the Division Street BRT have for years been paired in the public’s mind, transit officials are not planning to wait if the freeway faces yet another setback.

“We have been updated by the governor that the NSC is planned to open in 2030 as well, but we are not dependent on NSC opening,” Wells said.

There are still opportunities for the public to weigh in on the project, with the STA planning another round of roundtable discussions with the neighborhood councils whose jurisdictions will be stitched by the new rapid bus route. The organization also plans to host an open house, likely around May or June, to present the current vision for Division.