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An extensive upgrade of Appleway Avenue began on March 23 and includes median construction, pedestrian crossings and improvements to the road surface, street lighting, vegetation and traffic signals.

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Appleway upgrade continues parade of citywide street improvements
5/28/2015 9:45:50 AM

By Craig Howard
Splash Contributor

The refrain is the same whether you're talking to a dentist, doctor or street contractor - pay now for preventative maintenance or pay much more later when things begin to break down.  

In Liberty Lake, the message has not been lost on government leaders, who are taking a proactive approach to road upkeep, finalizing a pavement management plan in 2012 and dedicating proceeds from a citywide utility tax to care for streets, most of which date back to the 1990s when the area was still under the jurisdiction of Spokane County.

"We have a mayor and council that want to make smart long-term decisions on street maintenance," said City Administrator Katy Allen. "Short-term repairs often are a community's only option because they can't afford to make long-term repairs. Street maintenance dollars always go further when your maintenance projects are long-term repairs done timely."

The latest project on the city's transportation agenda is an ambitious upgrade of Appleway Avenue from Liberty Lake Road to Fairway Lane near Huntwood Custom Cabinets. The work began on March 23 and was expected to wrap up before the start of June, with the exception of efficiency improvements to traffic signals that should be completed by the third week of the month.

The heavily traveled thoroughfare will benefit from the addition of new pavement, street lighting, landscaping, pedestrian crossings and medians. City Engineer Andrew Staples was designated as the project manager and Poe Asphalt Paving Inc., a familiar name on local street work, was brought on as the contractor. 

"Construction is always an inconvenience, but the contractor has been very responsive in mitigating the impact on businesses, and they've been good with traffic control," Staples said.

Appleway has remained open throughout construction, with motorists being asked to patiently navigate a carefully organized maze of traffic cones and adjusted lanes. Allen said she has been surprised with the lack of congestion during the project as she observed "most motorists found alternative routes and traffic backups were short in duration."  

"I think of Appleway as a major spine and connector in our community," said Allen. "It provides connections to businesses, job centers, banking and food services. The key to keeping Appleway safe and efficient is for the city to evaluate peak time movements. When the project is complete and jobs and commerce grow along the Appleway corridor, the city will be evaluating levels of service, like backups, to determine whether or not additional signals or turning lanes are warranted."

In the summer of 2013, when the City Council was discussing ways to address the growing snag of traffic on Appleway, particularly during peak commuter times, Brandon Hunt of Huntwood described how 300 employees depart the cabinet manufacturing site at 3:30 p.m. and another 200 depart 90 minutes later. Most, he said, are heading west on Appleway. 

"It's frustrating, and it's getting worse," Hunt said at the time. "It's been an issue ever since we've been here."

Staples said the renovation will make left-hand turns on the road safer and easier while improved street markings and overhead lighting should make the route more navigable for motorists. Newly synchronized traffic signals will address the varying volumes of vehicles. The project is the latest in a series of repaving work that has brought new surfaces to Mission and Valleyway over the last three years.

"Appleway has changed," Staples said. "We have a lot of drivers making a lot more turns, there are more pedestrians on that street, and there a lot of people using transit who are turning to use the park-and-ride. By changing some of the intersection layout, it's going to make things more efficient and allow for better traffic flow. It's not going to eliminate all the issues, but it will help."

The overall budget for Appleway is slated at $2.1 million, although Finance Director R.J. Stevenson has said the city will likely "come in under that number." The construction contract awarded to Poe was $1,660,761, with $910,000 covered through a grant from the state Transportation Improvement Board (TIB). The balance of the cost is being paid through the city's streets capital fund, supplied with revenue from the utility tax. 

Mayor Steve Peterson has been a dedicated advocate of street preservation throughout his various tenures at City Hall. He has referred to the dilemma faced by the city of Spokane, which let road maintenance slip down the priority list and has had to pass high-dollar capital bonds to catch up ever since. 

"Our roads are in good to excellent shape," Peterson said. "I believe the success to long-term good roads is early intervention on small problems with a comprehensive fix. I firmly believe we will not be caught behind the power curve like our friends were in Spokane."  

The next major project on the city's Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) will be an overhaul of Liberty Lake Road next year, featuring many of the same revisions recently added to Appleway. Staples said the plan is to bring on a consultant this summer and have bids out before the end of the year. Construction would ideally begin next spring. 

According to Stevenson, the early cost estimate for Liberty Lake Road is $1.8 million, consisting of   $1.4 million from a TIB grant and $400,000 from the streets capital fund. 

Shane Brickner, one of three council members on the community development committee, says the city "is staying ahead of the road problem." 

"I've driven in neighboring cities, and after too much of that you either need a car realignment or a back realignment," Brickner said. "I'm pleased with the improvements the city has made, and pedestrian safety improvements have come a long way. I see us as a proactive city, which has helped us to maintain a level of service this community deserves." 

In addition to major arterials, Allen said the city is working on a plan for ongoing maintenance of residential streets. Unlike thoroughfares like Appleway and Liberty Lake Road, funding matches are not available for neighborhood roads. 

"The majority of our residential streets were built in the 1990s," Allen said. "So, they'll be in need of repairs at the same time. With very little, if any, outside funding to repair local residential streets, we've started identifying and prioritizing future residential projects."

• • •

The roads ahead 

By Craig Howard 
Splash Contributor 

When it comes to navigating street improvement priorities in Liberty Lake, the Transportation Improvement Program provides the direction.

The latest blueprint of road preservation projects covers a six-year span beginning in 2016 and weighs in at an estimated cost of nearly $16 million, not including the Henry Road interchange, a project under the jurisdiction of the state of Washington. At the City Council meeting on May 5, City Engineer Andrew Staples delivered a general sketch of the project list, divided into three categories - safety, condition of roads and capacity issues. 

While the city will tackle a considerable amount of the work, developers like Greenstone are also part of the TIP agenda. Upgrades along Mission Avenue, from western city limits to Corrigan Road, are among the infrastructure additions the company will address on the north side of the freeway.

Meanwhile, a slew of intersection projects - 10 in total - are included in the Harvard Road Mitigation Plan, established in 2002 to collect funds from developers of projects that affect traffic along the north/south road. 

"The rebuild coming in 2016 of the intersections should help speed traffic flow," said Mayor Steve Peterson. "With the success of the Harvard roundabout, we are contemplating roundabouts and additional lights on Molter and Appleway as they are needed."

Updated each year, the TIP is essential for the city to be in the mix for state and federal transportation grants. The final version of the document is expected to be approved by council at its June 16 meeting.
 
TIP project list - 2016-2021
Appleway Avenue improvements - Fairway Lane to eastern city limits
$856,000
Country Vista Drive improvements - Broadway Avenue to Liberty Lake Road
$1,862,000
Liberty Lake Road reconstruction - Sprague Avenue to Country Vista Drive $1,077,000
Liberty Lake Road reconstruction - Country Vista Drive to Appleway Avenue
$1,549,000
Mission Avenue improvements - western city limits to Corrigan Road
$2,482,000
Henry Road interchange
TBD
Street and pathway improvements
$100,000
Intersection improvements - Harvard Road/Wellington
$575,000
Street preservation $2,390,000
Intersection improvements - Harvard/Indiana
$575,000
Intersection improvements - Mission Avenue/Molter Road 
$575,000
Intersection improvements - Country Vista/Mission Avenue
$460,000
Intersection improvements - Appleway/Signal Road
$575,000
Intersection improvements - Appleway/Madson Road $575,000
Intersection improvements - Mission/Harvest Parkway $575,000
Intersection improvements - Country Vista/Henry Road $575,000
Intersection improvements - Country Vista/Legacy Ridge 
$575,000
Intersection improvements - Appleway/Country Vista Boulevard  
$575,000
Total: 
$15,951,000

 
 
 
 

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