Cost Of Bridge Climbs To $36 Million New Group Of Opponents Worried About Span’s Effect On View Of Falls

The cost of building the Lincoln Street bridge continues to grow as last-minute efforts to stop the project gain momentum.

Spokane city officials estimated two years ago the bridge would cost about $26 million. That tally since has grown to at least $36 million, and a final estimate is at least a month away.

While the city searches for dollars to bridge the gap, residents concerned about preserving views of the lower Spokane Falls are looking for ways to halt construction.

About 20 people began meeting two months ago to brainstorm alternatives to the project.

One option proposed by former state Sen. John Moyer is having the falls declared a national monument.

“We need a centerpiece for Spokane, and I don’t think a bridge is going to do it,” Moyer said Wednesday. “We have a delightful piece of natural beauty right in the middle of our community.

“We have eight bridges. The question is, do we need more bridges?”

Phil Williams, the city’s director of engineering services, said he isn’t surprised by recent efforts to stop the bridge.

“I think that’s normal … but it isn’t as timely as the same criticisms were a few years ago,” he said. “The project’s pretty advanced at this point.”

Williams blamed the ever-increasing costs on unexpected construction obstacles.

Geotechnical engineers found more fill material than expected on the south bank, which means the “foundation design had to be more elaborate,” Williams said.

Also, the city decided to buy the former Salty’s at the Falls restaurant site for $2.8 million instead of trying to build around it.

Federal and state money will pay for about $27 million of the project, leaving local taxpayers to pay the balance. The city has secured a $4 million loan from the state and is hoping for more federal or state money.

The state loan likely will be repaid with gas taxes, Williams said.

City officials say the bridge is vital to easing traffic congestion on Monroe, as well as lessening air quality problems in the urban core.

Architect Rich Hastings, a member of the unnamed group opposed to the bridge, said he thinks the project will increase congestion and destroy the view of the lower falls.

The group wants to raise awareness of the project among neighborhood residents, downtown business owners and developers, he said.

Plans call for the four-lane, one-way bridge to align with Lincoln Street, carrying northbound traffic from downtown to Sharp Avenue. Eventually, the Monroe Street bridge will be one-way southbound.

“How the bridge affects the gorge affects everybody,” Hastings said, noting the falls put on a spectacular show this spring because of the high river level. “I saw hundreds of people admiring the falls.”

Like other members of the group, Hastings said he doesn’t want a bridge to diminish that attraction.

“The very fact is this feature fostered civilization in this region,” Hastings said. “This feature is what Spokane’s identity is tied up in.”

Hastings hints that the group is looking at other ways to stop construction, but he won’t give details.

“We want to present a viable alternative to make this big mess into a big asset for the city,” he said. “We would rather propose something than oppose something.”

Hastings said he realizes the group’s opposition is late. The city committed to building the bridge in the early 1990s after comments from the public and a council-appointed committee.

But since that time, proposed downtown redevelopment projects promise changes for downtown that might be hurt by the bridge, Hastings said.

The couplet will create “four lanes of high-speed traffic,” he said. “Can you imagine a shopping mall cut through at two or three places? Who would shop there?”

It’s that issue that worries downtown advocates, such as Karen Valvano and Ron Wells.

“We could probably have the bridge and live with the bridge,” said Wells, a downtown developer. “The bigger issue is the whole notion of a high-speed, one-way speedway through town. … Those kinds of high-speed arterials create a huge barrier to pedestrian access for downtown.”

National transportation experts are pushing traffic patterns that slow cars, not speed them up, said Valvano, president of the Downtown Spokane Partnership.

While she’s not opposed to the bridge, she said she wants to know more about how it will affect downtown traffic. She said she plans to meet with city officials later this week to push for a traffic study that includes all the proposed downtown developments.

“For the first time, the public is beginning to believe this project is real,” Valvano said. “Everybody’s had this sense of how it would affect downtown, but there’s a lot (about the project) that’s changed.”

Williams dismissed concerns that the couplet will create high-speed traffic downtown.

“I don’t see cars moving that fast, just more efficiently,” he said. “We’re straightening out the street to create a better flow of traffic.”

, DataTimes