Second Avenue downtown will be repaved this summer as planned, but the final design may remove one of three vehicle lanes in favor of one for bicycles, city officials say. Councilmen Richard Rush and Jon Snyder had pushed for a complete revamping of the street’s design, a process that could have delayed the project a year or more.

The city of Spokane has big plans. Our leaders like plans. Comprehensive plans. Bike plans. Street plans. We have lots of big ideas to produce the kind of compact, walkable, mixed-use development that has helped rejuvenate cities all over the country. And while all of that looks great on paper, just drive around town. The vaunted “centers and corridors” plan has produced precious little urban development. That’s because key City Hall departments are ensconced in their respective silos, seemingly determined to implement yesteryear’s suburban growth model of single-family homes and large apartment complexes.

Are “Complete Streets” a good idea for Spokane? Spokane is considering a Complete Streets program, which the City Council could adopt after further discussion. As chairman of the Citizens Streets Advisory Commission, I believe that the residents of Spokane can use some additional information before such a program becomes the city’s official policy.

With a populace that has complained loudly for decades about bumpy roads, Spokane’s focus on street money is creating smoother rides for cars. But with voices growing for better bike transportation routes and pedestrian rights, there’s increasing pressure to construct bike lanes, separate sidewalks from the curb, plant more street trees and build bus shelters for transit users.