City of Spokane Valley to clear snow from sidewalks near schools this winter

In addition to plowing major streets, the city of Spokane Valley will clear sidewalks within a half-mile of schools this winter, which is the first time the city has cleared sidewalks since its incorporation.

City Council discussed clearing sidewalks more than a dozen times over the past three years, but wasn’t able to start last year because they couldn’t find a contractor. This year Geiger work crews, city staff and contractors will clear about 22 miles of sidewalk on one side of the road around schools that are on the official Safe Routes to Schools, said city spokesman Jeff Kleingartner.

Spokeswoman for Central Valley School District Marla Nunberg said between 5,000 and 7,000 children walk to school every day just in Central Valley’s district.

The remaining sidewalks in the city are the responsibility of the residents or businesses that own the adjacent property. People in the Tier 1 zone, which is the city’s commercial, retail and industrial area, must shovel their sidewalks if less than three inches of snow accumulate. If people living in those areas do not clear their sidewalks within 48 hours of snow, they face a $52 fine.

Spokane Valley Mayor Rod Higgins said clearing snow last year was an “exercise in futility,” and residents and business owners couldn’t keep up with the back-to-back snowstorms. He said the city removing snow from sidewalks this year will hopefully keep children who walk to school out of the street.

The city will also plow arterials during snowy weather, and it takes staff about 12 hours to cover about 400 miles. There are about 650 lane miles of residential streets in Spokane Valley, and contractors are only brought in to clear those residential streets during a significant snow event.

The Washington state Department of Transportation plows a few streets in Spokane Valley, including Trent Avenue and Highway 27.

Kleingartner said this year’s sidewalk clearing program is only focused on areas around schools, and the city is still finalizing agreements with contractors. On Thursday, just one crew worked on clearing sidewalks along Broadway Avenue.

City Councilman Ben Wick said the city has tried several different ways to reduce how much snow was on the sidewalk, including slowing down snow plows. He said the city will likely decide whether to continue clearing sidewalks, or trying a different method, once they find out how much this winter season costs.

The city has a map showing where residents must shovel their sidewalks, and a live map showing where snow plows are in real time. Both of those can be found at www.spokanevalley.org/snowinfo.

In the county

Spokane County is also increasing its snow clearing efforts by purchasing six additional snow gates, bringing the county’s total to eight. Each snow gate is about $18,000, and they cost about $5,000 to install. Six snowgates cost about $138,000 total.

The gates are installed at the end of a plow blade and prevent snow from flowing back toward the curb line. They can be used by a plow driver to prevent snow from building into berms at the end of driveways, for example.

Spokane County is responsible for about 5,000 miles of road, making it the biggest road network in the state. During a news conference Friday, County Commissioner Josh Kerns asked county residents to be patient during harsh winter conditions this season as county staff clear their roads.

The county has 36 snowplows and sanding trucks, 34 graders and four liquid deicing trucks. During snowy weather staff first clear emergency roads and arterials. Residential neighborhoods are done last.

Andy Schenk, maintenance and operations manager for the county, said residents should call the road maintenance department if they have issues at (509) 477-3600 or call Crime Check if it’s after business hours. That number is (509) 456-2233.

Schenk said the public should also be prepared before snowy weather and give snow plows as much space as possible when they are on the road. He said they should also never try to pass a snow plow, especially on the right, because it could be dangerous.

“Stay back, give our drivers the time to work and we’ll make it safe for you,” he said.

Spokane County also has a map the public can use to track snowplows on its winter road maintenance website at www.spokanecounty.org/882/Winter-Roads-Maintenance.