Getting There: 10 blocks of Bowdish Road to receive safety improvements

After witnessing multiple deaths occur in their front yards over the years, Spokane Valley residents living on and around Bowdish Road are pleased with the city’s plan to install a roundabout on a dangerous intersection.

Bowdish has been under construction since May as the city implements improvements from 12th Avenue to 22nd Avenue. The final road will feature a new sidewalk on the east side, a bike lane, improved stormwater control features and a traffic circle at the intersection of Bowdish Road and 16th Avenue, said project manager Kelly Lynch.

Former Spokane Valley Mayor and current Councilman Rob Higgins said that Bowdish Road was one of many that were inherited from the county and not built to last.

The project, for which the city applied in 2020, was approved in 2022 with funding from the Washington State Department of Transportation’s Pedestrian Bicycle Program and Safe Routes to School program, due to the close proximity of the road to Bowdish Middle School and Opportunity Elementary School. The total budget for the project was $4,122,565, according to city documents – just under half of which were grant funded.

Though he voted in favor of the project at the time, City Councilman Al Merkel said he would not do so if given another chance, as he believes taxpayer dollars should go towards public safety and regular maintenance of facilities, rather than upgrades. He clarified that he was in agreement that the road was in need of maintenance; however, he specifically opposed the upgrades.

“Until we meet city needs, I don’t intend to vote for future grant projects that use taxpayer dollars,” Merkel said.

Construction began in late May.

“If you look at the area now, it’s a road with travel lanes and some gravel,” said Charlotte Claybrooke, manager of the Safe Routes to School program. “This will provide a separated facility so that the children won’t have to walk close to the traffic, or in a place where they might have to travel in the travel lane.”

Residents living near the road are already loving the changes.

“The road’s quieter, love that,” said David Bond, 59, who lives near the Bowdish and 16th roundabout construction site. Bond said that people turning off of Bowdish often sped through the neighborhood before construction began. Since moving there in 2005, Bond and his wife have seen a number of car crashes next to their house.

Nicole Edwards, 38, has lived across the street from Bond for six years. Having kids and a number of large yellow dogs, Edwards says the new sidewalks will make going on walks safer for her family. She is also “super excited” about the roundabout being put in, saying that people “don’t know how to use four-way stops” like the one that previously existed at the intersection.

“We’ve had deaths,” Edwards said, adding that she has seen people going as fast as 50 mph or 60 mph down the 35 zone.

In 2022, an 18-year-old passenger died after the driver ran the stop sign on the intersection at high speeds, and multiple neighbors mentioned other crash deaths.

Roundabouts can significantly reduce the occurrence of fatal crashes by reducing vehicle speed and limiting points of potential conflict, according to the Federal Highway Association.