SPOKANE VALLEY – Transportation is certainly a driving topic as the region grows, and during the June 20 Spokane Valley City Council meeting a public hearing was held in regard to the proposed six-year transportation improvement plan.
Engineering Manager Adam Jackson went in front of the council to give a presentation about this plan which outlines 41 projects expected to take place between 2024 and 2029.
The improvement projects span from major projects such as grade separations to smaller projects like sidewalk installations. According to Jackson, regardless of the size of the project, the planning has to be well developed to ensure proper funding can be allocated.
“In order for us to use real estate excise tax revenues for capital projects,” Jackson said. “And often time when we compete for grant dollars, the granting programs require these projects to be identified in the plan.”
He continued by explaining this is because the granting agencies want to ensure they are not funding “whimsical projects,” but more well-founded planning projects instead.
Jackson also mentioned the recent addition of some projects, including an interchange improvement at Barker and I-90 that was not initially included in the six-year plan.
After Jackson went through the project list, which also included some resurfacing projects in residential areas, Mayor Pam Haley opened the floor to council questions.
Councilwoman Laura Padden asked if the projects were numerically listed by priority.
Jackson answered saying that every project in the list is a priority, but the list was written anticipating certain completion times.
“It kind of is a chronological list,” Jackson said. “Nearest project delivery pushed out to furthest project delivery.”
After the public hearing was closed, council unanimously approved the plan.
Matthew graduated from West Virginia University-Parkersburg in 2011 with a journalism degree. He's an award-winning photographer and enjoys writing stories about people.
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