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Editorial: Big-picture approach vital to city’s street goals

Wed., May 12, 2010

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.

This attitude has crippled the potential for renewal in such neighborhoods as West and East Central. It is frankly ridiculous that it’s easier to develop urban enclaves in smaller cities, such as Liberty Lake, Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene.

Usually this disconnect is evident when frustrated developers get the City Hall runaround or are shot down. But it also arises when the city plans its own projects, such as streets.

Second Avenue is a prime example. The Master Bike Plan adopted last summer by the City Council calls for more bicycle lanes, especially in and around downtown. The city only has 17 miles of bicycle lanes on 1,000 miles of paved streets. The city’s plan designates Second Avenue as a bicycle path, but the repaving project planned for August doesn’t have them.

Unfortunately, this fact was only recently unearthed by City Council members Richard Rush and Jon Snyder, who are calling for a new design. However, much of the pre-construction work has been done and the project will be ready for bidding in two weeks. It’s too late for this do-over, but the city ought to evaluate future repaving projects in the context of its overall plans for urban development.

“Complete streets,” with bike lanes, sidewalks and trees, are a part of those plans. The desire for this type of development might not have been prevalent when voters adopted the street bond in 2004, but it does dovetail with the Comprehensive Plan and the recent push for developments that encourage walking and biking.

It’s true that fewer miles of streets can be repaved if bike lanes and other amenities are incorporated. But it’s also true that the city will be looking for ways to do this in the future. The city ought to calculate how many fewer miles would be paved under a complete streets scenario so it can make an upfront, informed decision on where to pursue them.

As for the big picture, the city’s leaders need to step back, peruse the overall blueprint and enforce it. The city they envision won’t get built as long as city staff has a different set of plans.