City of Airway Heights
10th Avenue Extension
10th Ave terminus to Hayford Rd
TIB Award Amount
$2,467,406
Region: Northeast   |   Legislative District: 6   |   Length: 0.54 mi. FY 2022 Urban Arterial Program (UAP)

Existing Conditions

U.S. 2 provides almost exclusive access to Airway Heights and the West Plains area of Spokane. The Highway is visually congested, analytically with ADT approaching 1.0 v/c limits and with intersections functioning below adopted LOS concurrency standards (verified by WSDOT ER). Congestion impacts safety, with collision densities occurring at a range of 2.0 to 3.0 collisions per mmvt, pending location, with 30 collisions per mile per year. There is an economic impact. Thousands of acres in both cities are zoned for commercial and residential development, with private investment occurring at numerous properties. A practical concern is local agencies may have to slow growth until access, mobility, and safety issues can be resolved. At the least, developers may choose to prospect elsewhere to achieve higher resident or employee safety, and/or to assure business and freight mobility goals. Finally, as the 5th largest employer in the County, the mission and growth potential of Fairchild AFB is impacted as personnel are less able to maintain their 60 minute “recall” requirements due to congestion.

Project Funding

  TIB Funds Local Funds Total Costs
Design 229,116 99,997 329,113
Right of Way 56,980 24,868 81,848
Construction 2,181,310 952,024 3,133,334
Project Totals $2,467,406 $1,076,889 $3,544,295

Local Match

TIB Participation Local Match Minimum Local Match
69.6% 30.4% 10%

Summary of Improvements

  • Project will provide safety, mobility, economic development, emergency service, route diversity, and multimodal benefits to Airway Heights, Spokane, Spokane County, the Kalispel Tribe, the Spokane Tribe, Fairchild AFB, WSDOT, and private development;
  • with letters of support attached. Phase I immediately benefits most organizations, as it promotes continuous travel through Airway Heights.

Description of Improvements

The Cities of Airway Heights and Spokane have partnered with S3R3 Solutions to develop West Plains Connection (westplainsconnection.com), the 6th/10th/12th Multimodal Corridor improvement project. This project would ultimately extent or improve roads for 3.65-miles north of U.S. 2 as to: - Promote growth and job creation by providing improved access to developable properties. - Reduce congestion and improve safety by diverting local traffic from U.S. 2. - Work to maintain the expanding mission of the Fairchild through improved travel efficiencies. - Provide a commute and recreational active multimodal corridor for Airway Heights and Spokane. - Increase transit use through route diversity, added stops, and maintaining route schedules. - Improve emergency response times for by reducing congestion and increasing route choices. This grant is for Phase I extension from present 10th Avenue terminus to Hayford Road, allowing 2.5-miles of continuous, diverted travel from nearly Craig Road to Deer Heights Road. Phase I would improve access to residence and permitted commercial sites including North 40, Circle K, an Urgent Care, and corporate office complex (confidential, but with MOU with the Kalispel Tribe of Indians). Future phases would be developed to extend the corridor further within 5 to 10 years.