SPOKANE, Wash—Erik Lowe said he didn’t realize how dangerous the streets of Spokane had become until he was a parent. Lowe took matters into his own hands and presented City Hall with a $1 billion proposal called Spokane Reimagined to make the Lilac City safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
“This is an epidemic, and it is just getting worse and worse because your city prioritizes speed and automobile throughput above safety,” said Lowe.
Lowe said the data alone shows that change is needed. According to WSDOT, in 2023, there were over 200 crashes in Spokane involving pedestrians and cyclists, a 130% increase from 2022.
However, safety comes at a cost. The billion-dollar price tag would cost Spokane $50 million annually for 20 years.
The projected costs for the proposal are:
$250 million – Property acquisition and construction of People Powered Highways, people-powered connections outside the grid, and bike share$250 million – First Ave Tram$100 million – New neighborhood amenities (restrooms, fountains, pavilions, ball courts, etc.)
Lowe argued that his proposal is a proactive approach that could save the city’s bottom line.
“We are spending millions of dollars a year responding to these collisions. If we can prevent the collisions from occurring, we can effectively decrease the amount of money that we’re spending on these departments without actually impacting response times.”
However, city council member Zack Zappone told NonStop Local that regardless, a figure like that is enormous, “the $1 billion price tag, I think, is a little jarring for a lot of people, myself included.”
Lowe said he proposed this knowing there would be pushback on the overall cost: ‘ I knew that if I was to propose the cheap version first, I would get the same exact quotes.’
