Some of the most dangerous roads in Washington aren’t freeways or interstates – they’re city main streets.
The Transportation Choices Coalition is one of the advocacy groups trying to change that.
The coalition is a statewide nonprofit that came to Spokane for the Washington Traffic Safety Summit.
To cap off a day in the convention center, TCC's executive director Kirk Hovenkotter guided a hot, loud walking tour down one of Spokane’s most dangerous streets — Division Street.
Division is what transit nerds call a “main street highway.”
“They’re big, gnarly, busy roads that are owned by our state department of transportation," Hovenkotter said. “We know that these roadways are some of the most dangerous in our state. [About] 47% of people who are killed walking in our state occur on state-owned roadways.”
At the corner of Spokane Falls Boulevard and Division, Erik Lowe faced the group crowded on the sidewalk across the street from Fast Eddie's.
The pedestrian safety advocate and founder of Spokane Reimagined memorialized the lives lost nearby.
"Last year, there were three pedestrian fatalities on the Division corridor," he said. "The year before, there were five pedestrian fatalities."
In the style of other transit “megaprojects” like building the floating bridge or strengthening freight networks, TCC is pushing for a megaproject for safety.
“We know how to fix these main street highways," Hovenkotter said. "It’s adding sidewalks, it's adding more frequent crosswalks, median refuge islands to give you more time to cross the street, and better bus stops and bus lanes that make taking the bus better.”
Division Street hosts Spokane's busiest transit line — bus route 25. By 2030, it will also run a new "bus rapid transit" line, similar to the City Line that runs from Browne's Addition to Spokane Community College.
Transit planners are anticipating an interchange between the east-west and north-south lines at the corner of Division and Main Avenue.
Increased walkability will make it more comfortable to get to and take advantage of public transit, Hovenkotter said.
He also gave Monroe Street just a few blocks west as an example of a road that serves businesses, cars, buses, and pedestrians well.
In 2018, blocks of North Monroe street were updated with wider sidewalks, curb bump outs and a center turn lane. The area is now a growing business and neighborhood hub.
TCC was awarded $100 million from the legislature this session to help create safer main streets across the state.
Hovenkotter is aiming for $1.5 billion over the next 10 years.
