It will soon be safer and easier
to travel by bike or on foot around Spokane Valley. After gaining council approval of its Bicycle
Pedestrian Master Program (BPMP) last year, the city is now busy implementing
it.
Nine bicycle and
pedestrian projects are slated to be completed this year, including the
Evergreen Road rehabilitation project.
This project will take advantage of a water line replacement project by
VERA Water & Power to reconstruct Evergreen from 24th to 32nd
Avenue and improve sidewalks and add bike lanes.
Marc Mims, Bicycle
Alliance board member and Spokane Valley resident, pointed out this project
will complete an important north-south bicycle route through the Valley and
give cyclists safer access to Highway 27, a popular recreational bike route
south of town.
In addition to the
construction projects, the city has ten bicycle and walking projects in the
planning and design stage. According to
Marc, two of them are especially significant to people who bike: the University/I-90 Overpass Study and the
Spokane Valley/Millwood Trail.
“We don’t have safe bike
routes across I-90 anywhere in Spokane Valley,” stated Marc. “The University Road/I-90 Overpass study
could provide that.”
The Spokane
Valley/Millwood Trail will provide the planning and design of a 6.5-mile trail
from Spokane Community College to the Spokane Valley Mall, using a former Great
Northern Railway corridor now owned by Spokane County. The trail will provide a great east-west route
through the Valley reaching destinations that are currently difficult to access
by bike, Marc noted.
The BPMP was Spokane
Valley’s first effort to plan for biking and walking, and the Bicycle Alliance
provided technical assistance and input for it. Learn more about the city’s
other planned bike and pedestrian projects and the BPMP here.
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