SPOKANE, Wash – Drivers who use one of the south hill’s main arterials can expect changes in the years to come, as a city commission voted to cut lanes on Grand Boulevard.
The city’s transportation commission voted unanimously Thursday on a plan to reduce Grand from two lanes in each direction to one lane in each direction with one turn lane in the middle.
Changes would be from 14th Avenue to 27th Avenue, mostly adjacent to Manito Park.
People with varying opinions on the plan spoke to the commission before Thursday’s vote.
The commission said it received 180 pages of public comment about the proposal.
Several people who live in the Manito-Cannon Hill neighborhood spoke in support of the plan. One person wrote in and said they support any reduction in traffic, saying “because my kids’ lives depend on it.”
Opponents of the plan includes the Spokane Business Association. Advocates for the business group said the changes would push nearby arterials to the max, including Bernard and Rockwood Boulevard.
This could put pedestrians in danger on those side streets, as drivers cut through.
One speaker said simply enforcing traffic laws and speed limits in the neighborhood would do just as much to increase safety.
Another representative of the SBA worried the changes would reduce people’s desire to go downtown to work or shop.
The city is looking at possible changes now because of a paving project that was already planned for 2027.
Between 14,000 and 15,000 vehicles travel on this stretch of Grand Boulevard each day, with peak traffic between 4-5 p.m.
City traffic studies say this option is the safest for pedestrians but would increase travel time on that stretch of road by one minute.
The plan, which now goes to the mayor, will not include adding any bike lanes.
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