Doug Clark Takes On The North Spokane Corridor

Because it’s transportation-related, I feel that I can’t ignore Spokesman-Review columnist Doug Clark’s article today on the North Spokane Corridor, although it’s not exactly positive and the facts are skewed to fit the tone of the article. He’s got some good points; the freeway at this time isn’t heavily travelled (although traffic counts have picked up since the most recent stretch was opened) and it is an expensive project, and Division Street does have a lot of traffic lights and slow spots. What he didn’t mention though is the potential that’s sitting there.

When complete, the North Spokane Corridor (NSC) will take a lot of the truck traffic off Division and Market, which will mean they won’t be so slow anymore. He also mentions that the NSC is somewhere north of Hillyard, and so is Canada. Well that’s where a lot of those trucks are going. It’s called economic development. The thought is that if you put a north south route in that provides easy access to points north, we’ll have more businesses move in to utilize it.

There are also points to be made about how north-south streets like Division and Market will be more bike and pedestrian friendly after the freeway opens, as the cars wanting to get quickly through the area will be using it instead of arterials going through the city.

Anyway, here’s the article. It’s obviously more about being funny than educational so enjoy it for what it is.