Liberty Lake wants good view from freeway

There are two rivers in the city of Liberty Lake.

Through one – the Spokane – flows water.

But to Mayor Steve Peterson, cars rush through the other. It’s Interstate 90, he says, whose concrete banks are overflowing with money.

“It’s not a great divide,” Peterson said. “It’s just another river that you bridge.”

That’s why a new pedestrian walkway connecting the mostly undeveloped northern side of the city to the rapidly growing south side was designed with special detailing and color.

That’s also why the back of the new Home Depot store isn’t a blank white wall with loading docks but instead is landscaped and features natural colors to look pleasing to passing motorists.

Because Liberty Lake is building literally from the ground up, the city can plan ahead to keep the freeway corridor from becoming an eyesore, said Doug Smith, city director of planning and community development.

“With so many people traveling through on I-90, you want to make a good impression as people drive by,” Smith said. “There’s a certain level of responsibility in being the first community you enter in Washington.”

Liberty Lake has grand plans for Interstate 90, which include helping the county with a rest area at the state line, improving two exits in the city, widening the freeway to six lanes and giving the corridor an aesthetically pleasing look, Smith said.

Recently, state lawmakers approved a new financing plan that will allow the city to put $1 million toward road improvements, and some of that money might go to improving a freeway interchange, he said.

In turn, the city hopes shoppers will be attracted to yet-to-be-built businesses – like Cabela’s, a megastore for outdoor enthusiasts that is looking to possibly locate in Liberty Lake – and citizens will have pride in their surroundings, Peterson said.

It all comes down to looking past the concrete.

“Aesthetics has a great deal to do with setting the tone for your community and the success of your community,” Peterson said. “Whether you increase the economic vitality or increase the happiness of your residents, it’s just positive. It’s what ought to be.”

To start, the city is looking at improving the two exits within its city limits. The first is Exit 294, in an area recently annexed by the city and which serves Greenacres. The interchange only allows vehicles to enter eastbound lanes and to exit off westbound lanes of the freeway, and both of those only from the south side of the interstate. The city hopes to make that a full-service exit, allowing travel on all sides, Smith said.

The other exit is at Harvard Road, Liberty Lake’s traditional access point. The two-lane freeway overpass needs to expand to four lanes, Smith said.

Both projects could happen as part of the state-line-to-Sullivan freeway widening project, which would expand I-90 to six lanes from its current four.

But any work done to the freeway will have to wait a while.

Engineering work paid for with $9 million in federal funds is under way now, said Al Gilson, spokesman for the Washington State Department of Transportation. But a construction date has not been set, and no one can say when the money will be available.

“It’s extremely preliminary since there are no construction dollars behind it,” Gilson said.

The expansion is inevitable, Peterson said. It’s just a matter of time.

“There are lots of little things that go into it, but the concrete will be poured as soon as we possibly can,” he said.

While returning from a walk on the Centennial Trail on Friday, Mike Stowell, a retiree living in Otis Orchards, said that as Liberty Lake grows, the freeway will need to keep up.

“It’s going to be crowded,” he said. “It’s not bad yet, but the more people that move here, the more it will get congested.”

Other people say the system is sufficient for now but concede that in time upgrades will be necessary.

“Things have stayed about the same for now,” said Kristi Linville, a Liberty Lake resident who said she doesn’t head out of the city very much. “It would be nice if they had another bridge, and if there’s going to be more traffic I’m sure there’s going to be something built.”

In the meantime, the city is working on standards that will require buildings alongside I-90 to conform to certain aesthetic requirements, Peterson said.

“We’re a green community,” he said. “We believe in trying not to make it look like a cement jungle, and most of our retailers like that.”

At the newly-constructed Home Depot on the western edge of the developed city, Liberty Lake officials worked with the big-box retailer to make sure there were few large signs, obtrusive colors or loading docks for semis.

Instead, landscaped mounds of earth and several trees serve as a buffer between the building and the freeway. The end result will make the business look good to passing customers, and give the city a better image, Peterson said.

“It doesn’t have to be garish and it doesn’t have to be black and white,” he said.

The city has also worked with Spokane County officials on taking the port-of-entry rest area at the state line out of mothballs. The rest area was closed by the state in 2004 due to low use, but the county is hoping to turn the area into a park for river users. Liberty Lake may contribute police patrols and have a presence in the old visitors center, Peterson said.

While waiting for either time to pass or money to fall into place, Liberty Lake officials know that the work will get done.

“We don’t have anything on concrete, but we know that changes have to happen,” Peterson said. “We’re going to be a well-connected, well-positioned community for the future, and we’re going to be a very successful community as we do that.”