Olympia Transit System Named Best In Nation

Congratulations to Olympia, Washington's Intercity Transit! The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) has named Intercity Transit the best transit system in the nation for its size. Intercity Transit won the title in the medium-size category of transit systems providing between 4 and 30 million rides annually.

APTA presents the award each year to the transit system that best demonstrates achievement in efficiency and effectiveness over the previous three-year period.
Here's more on that award.

U District Local Revitalization Area Proposed

The City of Spokane has proposed developing a Local Revitalization Area in the University District on the east end of downtown and is seeking input from citizens on the proposal.

A public meeting is scheduled for this Wednesday, July 1 from 6-8 p.m. in the Nursing Center, Auditorium 105, on the Riverpoint Campus at 103 Spokane Falls Blvd.

Creation of a Local Revitalization Area would provide funding for public improvement projects within the District through a new version of tax-increment financing approved by the state Legislature in 2009. The funding could provide a boost toward the construction of a railroad overpass for pedestrians and bicyclists in the District, along with other potential projects.

You're encouraged to attend the meeting to learn about the Local Revitalization Area idea. The City is seeking input on the boundaries of the area, as well as the projects that could be constructed using this funding.

Poll Shows Spokane Citizens Want Better Streets

Early results from an online Spokane City Council survey show that the biggest 'want' of citizens is smoother streets.

In a list of 22 items, street improvements, more job opportunities, and the creation of a centralized public market ranked the highest among the 683 completed surveys as of Friday afternoon. Here are more early poll results from the Spokesman-Review.

And here's a link to the survey. You can take it through this Friday, July 3.

Stimulus Highway Projects About To Start

$20 million worth of stimulus highway projects are about to start in our area and holiday travel is expected to be down from past years over the 4th of July weekend.
Here's the details from the Spokesman-Review's 'Getting There' column.

Name Chosen For NSC Path

In the Fall of 2008 the Washington State Department Of Transportation solicited ideas from the public to name the pedestrian-bike path which runs parallel to the North Spokane Corridor (NSC). This path will connect to neighborhoods along with other trails in the community.

Over 45 potential names were submitted. WSDOT then invited representatives from Tribal, biking, and outdoor groups to choose from those submitted names. The group chose "Children of the Sun" which is the rough translation of the word "Spokane" in the Salish language.

Lane Closures On Lower North Side

Here's your warning; there will be lane closures and obstructions each day this week, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. so crews can install fiber optic cable. The work starts at City Hall and will move across the Monroe St. Bridge to Bridge Ave., then across Kendall Yards to College Ave., and up Maple St. to Indiana Ave., then down to the Fire Station on Ash St. Flaggers will be in place.

Traffic Signals Out In Northeast Spokane

The panic is over- the streetlights are back up and running.

Time to tuneup your four-way stop skills folks, some traffic signals in an area of Northeast Spokane are not functioning due to a power outage. The dark signals are from Division St. east to Nevada and Hamilton streets from Illinois Ave. north Wellesley Ave.

City crews have brought in generators for major intersections, but other signals are without power.

So here's the official protocal. EVERYONE stops when a signal is out and treats it like a four-way stop.

'LightLane' Gives You Your Own Bike Lane

Start saving your money folks, because I can envision a lot of people running out to buy this little gadget. The gadget blog Gizmodo says this new product called 'LightLane' will be available soon. Using lasers affixed to your bicycle, the LightLane projects a virtual bike lane around you, letting cars know their boundaries and, hopefully, making riding safer for you. It's got it's obvious flaws, such as the fact that it probably isn't very visible during daylight hours, but all in all I think it's pretty cool. No word yet how much 'LightLane' will cost but I'm sure it won't be cheap.

19 Cities Sued Over Red Light Cameras

Red Light Cameras are being challenged again. 19 Washington cities, including Spokane, are being sued by a group that claims people who get automated traffic-camera fines are being overcharged.

Here's an article by the Spokesman-Review.

Not All Parking Lots Are Ugly

Who says parking lots have to be ugly, barren places? The Neva-Wood COPS Shop has a brand new parking lot that's more of a compliment to their building than just a place to leave your car while you do business inside. Here's the story.

Washington State Bike Map

Got big vacation plans this year? Looking for something cheap to do? How about a bicycle trip across the state? Or just across your county? Wherever you're going on two wheels across Washington, the Washington State Department of Transportation has a bike map to help you. Here's a link. Just click the area you're interested in for local area details. Now get packing, you've got a bike trip to make. And thanks to Holly for sending me this link.

We're Done Retreating Now

So I'm happy to report that we all made it through the first annual SRTC staff retreat with no deaths, injuries, or even cuts or scratches. Centerplace was nice enough to let us use one of their rooms, where we not only had some fun, but also figured out some ways we can

work more effectively, work better with other agencies and jurisdictions, work better with each other, and how we can serve our 'clients' (other agencies, local electeds, the public, etc.)better.

One thing I'm really excited about is that Glenn agreed to let us take 'field trips.' We talk to all the area jurisdictions on a daily basis about their projects, but ask me about the NSC and I'm pretty fuzzy on a lot of the details. Same with some of our planners and some of the area bike paths. So we decided to take periodic field trips where we either ride a local bike path, take a hike or a walk through a park or neighborhood, or even take a drive through an area of interest. This will make us better prepared to answer questions when we're out in the public.

Oh yeah, and he also said we can grow vegetables on the deck if we do it on our own time. Whoo hoo!

King County Audit Finds Major Problems

King County is in trouble over financial records, after an audit turned up construction projects that went over the authorized price- by $26 million!- many examples of poor record keeping, and piles of cash transit fares left unsecured. There were a lot of other less-than-stellar findings too.

Click here to read the Seattle P.I.'s article on the other audit findings

Writer Says Bike Plan Will Educate More Riders

Spokesman-Review Letter to the Editor

In response to Mr. Ray Moss’ letter (June 13), as both a cyclist and a motorist, I too am bothered by the “lawlessness” of many individuals on bicycles in the downtown area. The ill will they create only serves to arrest the progress Spokane is making in becoming more multimodal. I would also suggest they represent a very small minority of cyclists, the majority of whom use bicycles in a safe and respectful manner.

By having recently adopted the Spokane Master Bicycle Plan and hiring a bicycle-pedestrian coordinator, the city and City Council have demonstrated their desire to support all modes of transportation on Spokane’s streets. A component of the plan focuses on education and enforcement.

It’s our belief that over the coming years, such offenses will be lessened as both these areas are emphasized.

Whereas Mr. Moss’ recommendation about licensing as proof of rudimentary knowledge of rules of the road has merit, such efforts have often been unsuccessful in other communities, as well as having the unintentional consequence of discouraging cycling.

Bob Lutz
Chairman, Spokane Bicycle Advisory Board

What are your thoughts on the possibility of requiring bicyclists to license their bikes, much like drivers license their vehicles?

Pothole Work Closing I90 Lanes

If you drive westbound I90 out of downtown, be prepared for some slow downs on your drive home tonight.

Pothole repair work today on the west side of downtown Spokane is causing partial lane closures and some delays on the freeway. The work is occurring at the west end of the bridge across Latah Creek between Maple Street and the U.S. Highway 195 interchange.

Ruby St. Lane Closures

Lane closures are planned on Ruby St. from Augusta to Indiana avenues starting at 6 a.m. tomorrow, June 24. During working hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., City crews will close two lanes for grinding and other street repairs. After 5 p.m., one of those lanes will reopen to traffic and then be closed again at 8 a.m. on Thursday.

SRTC Office Closed On Wednesday

If you've got business to conduct with SRTC, better do it today or you'll have to wait until Thursday. The office will be closed all day tomorrow (Wednesday) for a staff 'retreat.' Rumor has it we're getting a dunk tank and taking turns trying to knock the boss into the water. I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen though. SRTC will reopen at 8 a.m. on Thursday.

Emphasis Patrol Nets Lots Of People Not Wearing Seatbelts

Spokane County law enforcement officers wrote 351 citations this spring for people not wearing seat belts during their annual “click it or ticket” emphasis patrols.

The Washington Traffic Safety Commission today released results from the night time enforcement period from May 21 through June 7.

In addition to the seat belt violations, officers made 10 arrests; three for driving while intoxicated, six for outstanding misdemeanor warrants, and one for an unspecified felony.

They wrote up 128 drivers for speeding, three for aggressive driving, two for reckless driving, 16 for child passenger safety restraint violations and 71 for no insurance.

NSC Open House Meeting

An informational open house meeting is scheduled for this week to update the community regarding the North Spokane Corridor (NSC) project. The open house is this Thursday, June 25th, from 5-8 p.m. at Northwood Middle School, 13120 N. Pittsburg.

Washington State Department of Transportation staff will be on hand to answer questions about the overall status of the project and construction details. Real Estate Services representatives will also be available. There will be no formal presentation at the Open House. Interested citizens are invited to drop by at any time during the meeting.

The first segment of the NSC, from Francis to Farwell Rd., will open in August of this year.

775 Pages Of Transportation Bill Reading

Chairman Jim Oberstar and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee late last week released the full 775-page transportation bill text. Jeff in our office is looking it over to glean the highlights, but if you don't want to wait, or need something to help you sleep at night, here's a link to it.