Construction of an emergency vehicle operations course is expected to begin in a few months at 13207 W. State Route 902, on the West Plains, says Bruce Russell, design and construction manager for the Spokane County Facilities Department.

The proposed $1 million law enforcement vehicle training course is the next phase of the Spokane County Sherriff’s Office Regional Training Center project, Russell says.

The vehicle training course initially was planned for the same piece of land the training center is on, but the course ended up being too large for that site. The county selected a site just west on Route 902 for the course. A narrow piece of private property separates the training course from the training center.

“The driving lane has to be a quarter-mile long,” Russell says. “There just wasn’t enough room on that site.”

The vehicle training course project will go out for bid early next year, Russell says. He expects construction will begin around early March and last a few months.

“It should be ready to go next summer,” Russell says.

Virginia-based Clark Nexsen provided design services for the project, and the Spokane office of DCI Engineers is the project’s civil engineer.

Located just east of Fairchild Air Force Base, the course will be available for law enforcement agencies and military personnel to practice driving maneuvers and simulate hazardous road conditions, among other uses, Russell says. The course also will include eight covered parking stalls.

“As part of this new regional training center that they have out there, one of (SCSO’s) goals is to have that facility be available to other law enforcement agencies in the region,” Russell says. “The EVOC track will be treated the same way.”

The $41 million regional training center, located at 13033 W. State Route 902, was created through a partnership between Spokane County and Fairchild. It includes a 21-lane indoor small arms range, eight classrooms, a virtual training simulator, a defensive tactics room, armories for both law enforcement and military partners, a canine training area, a tactical shoot house, and a 50-foot-tall helicopter training tower with a repelling wall, an article posted on Fairchild’s website says.