Amazon will pay $178,640 in traffic mitigation fees to Airway Heights to be used for improvements to the intersection of Hayford Road and U.S. Route 2, according to the Cheney Free Press. City officials say that money will primarily be used for a second southbound left turn lane.
The State Environmental Policy Act requires developers to find out what direct and indirect impacts their proposals will have on local traffic patterns and mitigate them. To comply with that, Amazon performed a traffic study that found that early evening hours are peak traffic times, especially for delivery vehicles.
Last spring, Airway Heights staff released a Transportation Circulation Plan outlining existing traffic conditions in Airway Heights and planning for the future based on current growth projections, but the plan did not include the impacts from a major company like Amazon.
Amazon may also pay up to $50,400 more for improvements to the intersection of Hayford and McFarlane roads depending on the traffic mitigation fee decided on by the city, but that has yet to be determined.
Spokane City will also receive a traffic mitigation fee in the amount of $60,016 from Amazon for improvements to U.S. 2, including the 12th Avenue connection between Deer Heights and Flint Road, the extension of Deer Heights Road to 21st Avenue and the 18th to 21st Avenue connection between Hazelwood Road and Flint Road.