The Spokane Transit Authority has started expansion work at the Mirabeau Point transit station site that will set the stage for an eventual high-performance transit line from Liberty Lake to Spokane International Airport, says Ryan Brodwater, the agency’s capital projects manager.

The project also will add parking stalls and improve routes serving Spokane Valley.

The contractor for the project is Spokane Valley-based Cameron-Reilly LLC. The Spokane office of KPFF Inc. is providing engineering services, and Spokane-based ALSC Architects PS is designing the project. 

The project value is $4.2 million and includes a 720-square-foot transit building and a 2,000-square-foot covered passenger platform area, he says. 

The project at the designated Park & Ride station, located at 13209 E. Indiana, near the Spokane Valley Mall, will add 27 parking spaces to bring the total spaces to 207. The infrastructure to accommodate electric vehicle car chargers also is being constructed, although charging stations will be installed later, Brodwater says.

New building codes require commercial construction to include EV charging. STA had obtained permits before the new building codes went into effect, however the organization had already envisioned accommodations for EV users, he notes. 

Site grading and installation of underground utilities are underway.

“Our intention is to have it in service by the end of the year,” Brodwater says. “The new structure is going to have a covered boarding area, monitors with written information, and it will be very well-lit and accessible.”

Four transit routes serviced at Mirabeau Point include route 74, which runs from downtown Spokane to Liberty Lake, says Brodwater. In the future, route 74 will become route 7, a high-performance transit line that will extend service from downtown Spokane to the airport on the West Plains. Two of the other routes service Spokane Valley, the fourth line is an express route that travels nonstop from Mirabeau Point to downtown Spokane, Brodwater says. 

The fare to ride STA is $2, which includes transfers within a two-hour window, says Carly Cortright chief communications and customer service officer. 

“If you have one of our Connect cards, then you benefit from fare capping, which allows for a max of $4 a day,” Cortright says. “So if you commute in the morning and evening … then later that day came back downtown for a concert, you would actually ride for free because you met your fare cap.”

STA has a monthly fare cap of $60, Cortright says. STA also has a reduced fare program for people 60 years and older and for people with disabilities. A Stars and Stripes program allows veterans and active military service members to ride for $1. Youth, 18 years and younger, ride STA for free, Cortright says.