Getting There: Nearly 2-mile stretch of protected path slated for Sunset Highway

Spokane will build nearly 2 miles of protected path along Sunset Highway this year between Spotted Road and Royal Street, connecting a rapidly growing area to existing pedestrian and bicycle amenities to the east.

Construction, expected to begin this spring, will include a 10- to 12-foot path for bicycles and pedestrians north of the highway, separated from the roadway in most areas by at least 5 feet, as well as major improvements to the intersection where Lewis Street crosses Sunset Highway.

That intersection is in dire need of a revamp, said city Transportation and Sustainability Director Jon Snyder. Mary Shockley, 78, was hit by a car and killed there last spring while trying to cross the five-lane, 50 mph highway. Improvements will include a flashing pedestrian beacon and an island in the middle of the intersection.

In an unusual turn amid years of skyrocketing construction costs, the project will cost a bit over half of the original engineer’s estimate. The Spokane City Council last week accepted a $1.75 million bid from Airway Heights-based Corridor Contractors, $1.5 million below the city’s estimated costs.

“We’ve been in such a crazy inflationary environment,” Snyder said. “Unfortunately, I don’t think this is necessarily indicative of what we’ll get the rest of the year.”

Instead, Snyder believed the cheap contract was the result of unusually heated competition due to a slow down of state contracts. There were 10 bids for the project.

The multiuse path and intersection improvements will be paid mostly through federal grants with some supplemental state funds, according to city officials.

When it’s completed, the multiuse path will connect to a stretch of unprotected bike lanes to the east, which run to Government Way. There, they will eventually connect to a planned extension of Fish Lake Trail also planned for 2026.

A further extension of the path to Airway Heights city limits is expected in 2027, according to Spokane Public Works spokesperson Kirstin Davis. Some sections of this final stretch to Spokane’s western neighbor already have been completed, Davis noted, as conditions for approving nearby developments, such as outside the North 40 just east of Airway Heights.

Snyder noted the area around Sunset Highway is rapidly growing. He said existing communities in the area, such as the trailer park that Shockley called home, are often lower income.

“Those residents out there deserve as much safety as anywhere else in the city,” he said.