Have road suggestions for Spokane Valley? The city is holding meetings where you can share them

Spokane Valley leaders say the city’s streets are in good shape.

But officials also say that, in order to keep them that way, Spokane Valley has to spend about $16 million per year on maintenance, a 100% increase over the $8 million the city currently spends.

Because of that funding gap, Spokane Valley has to figure out new ways to fund road maintenance, and the city’s inviting the public to offer ideas and comments on road maintenance plans .

The city will hold a virtual meeting Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and an in-person meeting Sept. 13 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. You can attend the virtual meeting by visiting spokanevalley.org/pmp and clicking on the Zoom link.

Spokane Valley has been using a telephone tax to pay for road maintenance, but revenues from that tax have been dwindling. The city has been focusing its street maintenance efforts on the busiest arterials at the expense of roads with lower traffic.

Repairing existing roads is far cheaper than rebuilding a destroyed road, so many Spokane Valley leaders are intent on finding reliable, ongoing funding mechanisms to ensure city roads don’t fall into severe disrepair.