Projects

Fish Lake Trail Connection Study

The purpose of this study is to determine the best route to connect the Fish Lake Trail to the Centennial Trail. Multi-use trails serve as the backbone for bicycle and pedestrian transportation networks. These facilities provide safe and comfortable opportunities for commuting, recreation, and neighborhood connections. Connecting the Fish Lake Trail to the Centennial Trail with a paved trail separated from the roadways will allow better route finding, and give surrounding neighborhoods a low-stress travel option.

The Fish Lake Trail was greatly enhanced in 2010 with the construction of a trailhead in the West Hills neighborhood and the paving of the trail from the trailhead near the intersection of Government Way and Sunset Blvd south to prior-paved segments. While that was a major step forward for the trail there remain two major gaps: bridging over the railroads near Fish Lake, and a connection to the Centennial Trail. This project will conduct a feasibility study, and an alternatives evaluation to determine the most appropriate route to address the latter.

There are also important connections to be made between the trail and the surrounding communities. This effort will explore opportunities to better connect the Fish Lake Trail to Thorpe Road, thus providing ready access to the trail for residents of the Grandview/Thorpe neighborhood.

If you want to stay connected to this study, please feel free to contact us using the Contact Info provided on this page to indicate your interest in the project.

Study

The study included a technical evaluation of potential routes and outreach to stakeholders and Spokane citizens to incorporate user perspectives into the trail development process. The technical evaluation assessed the opportunities and constraints of the physical terrain, aquatic resources, park features, and roadways to determine what is possible within the permitted uses along optional routes. Data, collected through the technical evaluation, was used to create route alternatives, which can be seen in the map below. The study is now substantially complete, with a Concept Design Report available through a link below. City staff ran a public survey to get feedback on the alignment from April 13th to May 2nd, 2021.

In the summer of 2021 the Spokane City Council approved additional funding to evaluate a fifth route (orange on the map). This route was developed based on feedback from the survey and is a hybrid of the red and blue routes. The “Orange” route was selected as the best option and moved into preliminary design. The Concept Design Report and 30% Design Plans can be found below. The City is currently seeking funding to construct the connection in three phases. Phase 1 will go from the existing trailhead to the top of the dog park at 5^th/Government Way. Phase 1 will also include the trail connection down to Thorpe Road. Phase 2 will continue through High Bridge Park and connect to People’s Park using a temporary route across the existing vehicular bridge on Riverside Avenue. Phase 3 will build a new non-motorized bridge across Latah Creek to separate the trail from vehicular traffic.