‘A win for safety’: Spokane County building new bike route south of Whitworth University

Life may soon be better for cyclists who loathe the busy section of Wall Street south of Whitworth University.

The Spokane County Commission last week approved a $303,000 project that will create a 2.2-mile bike route between Whitworth Drive and Greta Avenue. The north-south path will make it easier for cyclists to avoid traveling on Wall Street, a cramped, four-lane thoroughfare.

When it’s finished, the Greta to Whitworth bike route will run from the university down to Holy Cross Cemetery, connecting two existing city bike routes. It’s a Spokane County project because the area south of Whitworth University sits on a small peninsula of unincorporated county land surrounded on three sides by city of Spokane territory.

The new route will be parallel to Wall Street, roughly a quarter-mile east. Cyclists will mostly be riding along Ivanhoe Road and Whitehouse Street.

Chris Martin, Spokane County’s traffic and transportation project manager, said building a bike route on Wall Street wasn’t an option.

“There’s four lanes and there’s just not room,” Martin said, adding that the street “is pretty dangerous.”

The project won’t require much heavy-duty construction. The county’s contractor will install signs, build crosswalks and paint bike route markings on the requisite roads.

The $303,000 will also pay for the installation of two flashing beacons on Country Homes Boulevard and the paving of a 300-foot alley between Hoerner and Dawn avenues.

Martin said the bike route could be finished next summer.

Spokane County Commissioner Chris Jordan said the project will be a positive if it gets cyclists off of Wall Street.

“I like the concept,” Jordan said. “It seems like it’s a win for safety and it’s a win for safe bike access.”