The Spokane Transit Authority, or STA, is finishing the final steps in the new major construction. It has been routing the busses into campus to aide in student transport. The new STA plan started in May 2016, when community members sat down in the Student Union Building to draw up and draft route ideas and plans.
Then in November 2016, a group of West Hills neighborhood council members debated in the City Hall whether to pass or decline the plans for the STA route to come through campus.
During the decision process, plans changed over and over again, finally landing on the preferred route. It passed, thus, making it more accessible for many students to get off the bus and be right next to campus and much easier to cross busy Fort Wright Drive.
The project will feature many new amenities, such as shelters and benches. The project will also add traffic signals at the intersection of Elliot Drive and Ft. George Wright Drive to help improve STA’s on-time performance.
Stops originally located on Ft. George Wright Drive will now be located on the western end of SFCC’s campus. In the future, the bus route will provide a dry, warm area for students to congregate waiting for the bus. This is especially important for the upcoming winter months. When it rains, snows, or is windy, students will have somewhere to stand, protected, waiting for the bus. This is better than the original plan where students would have to walk to an unprotected post on Ft. George Wright Drive.
Many other students are very happy with the new changes since they will no longer have to trek across the main road without a crosswalk. Its a busy street where you just have to chance jogging across, or walk an extra 5 minutes down either way to reach a crosswalk.
Although there seems to be only pros to the new route, some are not as happy.
The new construction messes with those who drive into campus. They’ve had to, and continue to, deal with the new road work and the stress it brings on with having to drive around the construction. Changing lanes and navigating the road barriers can be tricky and is nervewracking durinf busy traffic hours.
The new route isnt open yet, but those who do take it are mostly excited for it. “My girlfriend takes it more often than me, but she told me it will really cut down on her walking times,” Dominic Fremon said, A student here who drives to campus. “I honestly don’t think it disrupts traffic that much, there’s so many lanes. It’s not really a big deal, I think. I’ve only taken it a few times, though.”
On the other hand, some students are a little less interested in the whole situation. Many had little to no feelings towards the major changes.
“I come in on the 33 from SCC which is about 45 minutes” said Emily Mclain, an SFCC student. “Most times the commute is fine, but most rides home I find the bus is as early as 10 minutes, causing me to miss and have wait for about 25 minutes!” This seems to be an issue for a few students, which the new route will likely alleviate. If students have a shorter distance to walk to the bus stops, it could mean that being at the bus stop on time will be a breeze. “Construction isn’t finished yet, so I’m not sure how it will impact my commute, but I’m hopeful this will make catching the bus easier when it gets here later this fall.” Mclain said.
Construction on the road and drive-in is done, leaving just landscaping and piping for the watering systems to be completed. The last few steps are on their way to being finished. The crew working on it are fast and efficient, working when students arrive to campus for morning classes, and still working when most are walking home. helping many students. We all look forward to this multiple years long project being completed and open for students to enjoy and benefit from year round soon. 