Photo by Al Stover This portion of Garfield Road, located near the Airway Heights Corrections Center, will be included in the first phase of the road's reconstruction project.
By AL STOVER
Staff Reporter
The Airway Heights Planning Department has issued two notices of application and State Environmental Protection Act review checklists for projects.
The commission will hold public hearings for both projects at its March 15 meeting.
The first application is for phase one of the Garfield Road/Sixth Avenue reconstruction project. This project includes reconstructing a transportation loop along Garfield Road and Sixth Avenue from its intersection with U.S. Highway 2 to its intersection at Russell Street. Work for the project includes widening the road, removing and replacing existing asphalt, and making road bed improvements. The project also features travel lanes, parking lanes and swales on both sides, as well as a shared-use path on one side.
Public Works Director Kevin Anderson said the project's design previously had bicycle lanes and sidewalks, but developers chose to take them out in favor of a shared use path.
"Our thinking was that it was an aesthetic issue, and a shared use path is something people like" Anderson said. "It also keeps a bicycle lane further away from traffic."
The design will also accommodate development happening in the road. Anderson said the city is in talks with a property owner who is looking to develop the area on Garfield Road, north of Chandler Street.
According to the SEPA review, officials determined the project will not have a significant adverse impact on the environment. There will be some grading occurring within the roadway to provide proper drainage and the necessary pavement structural section. Thirteen existing deciduous trees will be either removed or relocated and some of the landscaping will be damaged during construction, but later replaced.
If the project moves forward and everything goes according to schedule, Anderson said the goal is to have it out for bid by April.
"We're hoping to start (construction) on this in June," Anderson said. "It will be a good, long summer project."
The project's second phase focuses on finishing up Russell Road to Sprague Avenue and is expected to be completed in 2018. It will connect the arterial across the route to the Airway Heights Correctional Facility, the Spokane ORV Park and Spokane County Raceway. It will have similar features as phase one, including a shared-use path.
The other application is for two 4,800-square-foot buildings, one 7,600-square-foot building and a five-lot binding site plan on approximately 2.2 acres of land on 11507 W. 21st Ave., located between Lyons and Hayden streets and owned by Barnes Industrial LLC.
"It's pretty straight forward," Development Services Director Derrick Braaten said. "The land currently has one lot and two buildings. They'll do the first two buildings in 2017 and the third (will go up) in 2018 as the market dictates."
SEPA officials have also determined this project will not have a significant adverse impact on the environment
Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].
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