Getting around on the West Plains

Growth has created transportation challenges on the West Plains, and attendees at a recent West Plains Chamber of Commerce breakfast received an overview on how those challenges are being met.

Washington State Department of Transportation engineer Mark Allen told the record crowd that they are designing a series of changes to handle increased traffic at Interstate 90 interchanges at Medical Lake exit 272 and Geiger exit 276. Business development at both, along with new and expanding residential subdivisions at the Medical Lake interchange, have created long wait times at interstate on and off ramps, as well as several associated roads.

"You might as well bring a birthday cake with you it takes so long to get through that interchange," Spokane County Commissioner Al French said of I-90/Medical Lake during a follow up question and answer session.

Allen said three roundabouts are planned for the Medical Lake interchange. Roundabouts will handled traffic at both the eastbound and westbound ramp terminals, while a third will replace the current intersection of Geiger Boulevard and State Route 902.

The existing SR-902 bridge over I-90 will be widened or replaced, with improvements at the ramps bringing them up to current standards. A bike/pedestrian path is also planned along SR-902.

At the I-90/Geiger interchange, two more roundabouts are being planned - one at the westbound ramp on the north side of I-90 and another at the intersection of Geiger Boulevard and Grove Road. The westbound ramp will also get improvements.

Allen said local development has been the driver behind the two projects, which are budgeted at $26.2 million. That development includes expansion and increased activity at Spokane International Airport and Fairchild Air Force Base, along with the Kalispel and Spokane tribal casinos and new businesses at the Medical Lake interchange such as Petro Truck Stop, Caterpillar, Freightliner, Trans-System Inc. and the Aspen Park and Fairways subdivisions.

That list doesn't include a potential 1.7 million square feet of manufacturing, warehousing and administration facilities in the Spokane Aerospace Initiative for Recruitment West Side, or the recently begun Project Rose - a proposed four-story, 2.6 million square-foot distribution center on Geiger Boulevard north of the SR-902 westbound off ramp.

"Everything is happening down here, which puts a lot of pressure on those interchanges," Allen said.

The money has already been set aside by the state Legislature, Allen said. Preliminary design work is about 30 percent complete, with construction at I-90/Medical Lake moved up from fall to spring 2019. Completion is set for summer 2020.

Geiger construction is slated to begin in spring 2020, with completion estimated for summer 2021.

French said the county is planning improvements in the area, including a possible roundabout at Westbow Avenue and SR-902. The county is also planning on rebuilding Geiger Boulevard from the Spokane city limits to SR-902 as well as reclassifying it to heavy industrial - a move that will increase the allowable weight limits.

Long-range plans include updating and realigning Hayford Road to accommodate SIA's proposed runway and another possible roundabout at the intersection of McFarland and Craig roads southwest of Airway Heights.

Factoring into some of this construction is a transportation component nearing completion. Finishing work is underway on phase one of Spokane Transit Authority's West Plains Transit Center on the southeast corner of the I-90/Medical Lake interchange, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and new service changes scheduled for September.

STA representative Brandon Rapez-Betty said the $9.2 million facility will provide greater connectivity between cities on the West Plains by eliminating lengthy travel times due to traveling to the downtown bus plaza to make transfers while providing the region's first park and ride. STA estimates the center will also eliminate 1.1 million vehicle miles on I-90, while providing better local access to intercity lines such as Greyhound and Northwestern bus service.

The transit center will have 200 parking stalls, electric car charging stations for four cars, three passenger loading zones with passenger shelters, one of which is heated, real-time departure signs, digital passenger information signs, bike racks and a walking path to nearby businesses. Rapez-Betty said STA is also looking at providing service to the future Project Rose as well as SIA.

"It really plays into the West Plains economic development," he added.

Phase two of the project - transit only connection lanes between the center and the Petro-area roundabout - is planned for 2019-2020. At that time, direct service between Cheney and Airway Heights via the center is also slated to begin.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].