SPOKANE, Wash. — Streets in Spokane’s West Central neighborhood could soon become safer and more accessible.
After six months of gathering input from the community, the city has formed a list of 11 proposed projects aimed at making West Central more walkable and a safer place to live.
“Getting those pieces to connect it together so that we can just easily move about the neighborhood safely is what’s really the challenge at the moment,” said Morgan Thomas, who lives in Spokane.
Thomas and her family were out on a bike ride in West Central on Saturday. While they enjoyed their time, they had to bike on the road due to a lack of bike lanes.
“We can ride down the street, but without the right infrastructure it can be really dangerous, especially as our kids get older,” Thomas said.
The West Central Infrastructure Project hopes to change that, making it safer for families to enjoy daily activities.
“These types of projects are working on activating those spaces and making it easier and safer to bike around and to walk around your neighborhood,” said Zack Zappone, a Spokane City Councilmember.
Analysis and community feedback on the project also pointed out a need for traffic calming projects, especially on Boone and Dean Avenue.
For Brian Thomas, the need for these improvements is clear.
“There’s lots of kids, so we’ll just go play in the park on their own. And it’s awesome, but we’d like to make sure that they can do so safely,” he said.
The project is moving into its next phase: turning all the gathered input into concept designs. Before it does so though, the city wants your input on which projects should be prioritized.
For more information on the West Central Infrastructure Project and a link to take the survey, click here.
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