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Transportation director previews quick-build review, parking tax rollout and funded fatality-response pilot
Summary
John Snyder previewed a May review of quick-build traffic-calming projects, said the commercial parking tax registration is live and announced a $136,000 Washington Traffic Safety Commission grant (federal pass-through) to pilot rapid public-notification and temporary speed treatments after roadway fatalities.
John Snyder, director of Transportation and Sustainability, gave the committee several operational updates and a safety pilot announcement.
On the quick-build program he said staff will return in May with a review of roughly 20 implemented quick-build projects and variants (highly reflective post treatments and low-profile "armadillo"-style elements). He noted that unusually mild winter conditions limited snow-removal testing for some treatments and asked the committee for more time to complete the analysis.
Snyder said the commercial parking tax registration form is live and that staff is working with the city's web vendor and operations to publish guidance; a city web search for the "Spokane commercial parking tax" yields an information page and links to the ordinance and registration portal. He also reported expansion of automated enforcement cameras, with seven additional cameras coming online in the latest phase.
On safety, Snyder described a new pilot funded by $136,000 from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission (federal pass-through via NHTSA) to test near-term responses after a fatality: temporary paint/cones, traffic control notifications, and speed-feedback signs within 48 hours to slow speeds and inform drivers while engineering solutions are evaluated. He said the city will match funds and seek private contributions to buy equipment. "A lot of the focus is on speed temporarily slowing people down for a couple of weeks where fatalities happened," he said.
Snyder also updated the committee on the Sustainability Action Plan review and on regional salmon-recovery coordination (the Spokane Tribe is a lead entity for the watershed), reporting some actionable outcomes since the plan was published five years ago.
Committee members asked about speed-hump requests and the process for different treatments (quick-build vs permanent installations), and Snyder reiterated the 311-based Safe Traffic Survey and other procedural steps to evaluate whether a given street needs a particular treatment. No formal votes were recorded during the update.
