SPOKANE, Wash. – Mayor Lisa Brown signed the updated “Complete Streets” ordinance into law today, which will update Spokane’s transportation policy in order to harmonize language with state law and make it easier to compete for state grant funding.
The ordinance will do this by modernizing the Spokane Municipal Code and adding references to the Pedestrian Master Plan and Bicycle Priority Network.
The plan is also meant to save money on improvements by preemptively adding more walking and biking aspects into street projects while the city updates its street network.
The ordinance is led by Director of Transportation and Sustainability John Snyder and was sponsored by City Councilmembers Kitty Klitzke and Paul Dillon.
“By re-thinking how we design and plan, we can create streets that serve people of all ages, abilities, and modes of travel. This legislation is about planning with a purpose and shaping our transportation network to be one that works for everyone,” Snyder said.
“Complete Streets are an investment in the kind of Spokane we want to live in: one that is safer, healthier and more accessible. When we design our streets with intention, we create places where people can move safely and connect easily,” Dillon said.
“It was amazing to work together with Councilmember Dillon and Transportation Director Snyder to update a policy we worked so hard to pass together over a decade ago. These changes will broaden the scope of implementation and address the mobility concerns of more of our citizens,” Klitzke said.
This year’s “Complete Streets” ordinance is an update to Spokane’s 2011 “Complete Streets” Ordinance, which was passed by the 2011 City Council and signed by Mayor Mary Verner.
The ordinance was passed after Washington state passed their own “Complete Streets grant program,” which offered grant money to local governments that complied with their suggestions about street safety for pedestrians, bikers, and accessibility levels.
This ordinance promised many of the same commitments to increasing the construction of accessible, biking and walking lanes on streets in the city.
In 2022, Washington State Legislature passed the “Move Ahead Washington” package, which included new street requirements for the use of their investment program.
