Challenge
Division Street, which links Downtown Spokane, Washington, to established neighborhoods, educational opportunities, medical services, recreation amenities, and commercial businesses, is ready for change. The corridor is designed for vehicular traffic, but with the introduction of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service along Division Street, the City of Spokane is looking to create a more community-focused development pattern. Enter: the TOD Plan.
Solution
We worked with the City of Spokane and led the analysis and developed recommendations for multimodal connections to transit nodes along the TOD corridor to support the BRT routes. Along the nine-mile stretch of road, there are 11 potential station nodes. Each node was analyzed for its potential to support TOD, including:
- Parcel size and existing development patterns amenities
- Land availability
- Regulatory structures that could support or hinder future TOD
- Previous planning efforts that may support TOD
- Market conditions and development activity
This effort resulted in a selection of “priority nodes” for further analysis. While these nodes are the focus of the plan, the plan also includes recommendations for all nodes along the corridor that are expected to support TOD at some point.
The Outcome
More Connection Along Division Street
The recommendations for the TOD on Division Street will help develop a connected network of low-stress walking and biking facilities to serve proposed land uses, facilitate access to transit stations, and encourage mode shifts to transit.
This project received an APA/PAW Award for Excellence in Planning in the Transportation Plans Category at the APA Washington Annual Planning Conference.
