(UPDATED 2/1/2019 to include more information about the project's design team.)

Plans are underway for a $3 million transit station at Spokane Falls Community College, says Spokane Transit Authority spokesman Brandon Rapez-Betty.

“For about three years now, the city of Spokane, the West Hills neighborhood, SFCC, and STA have been working together on a vision for a safer, walkable environment along Fort George Wright Drive,” Rapez-Betty says. “This project is a big part of that.”

The project is expected to be funded through a $2.1 million Washington state regional mobility grant and $830,000 in local funds.

Rapez-Betty says the Spokane office of Coffman Engineers Inc. is the lead designer for the transit center project, and ALSC Architects PS, of Spokane, has a supporting role in its design, including creation of the initial renderings.

The project is scheduled to go out for bids in the coming weeks, with construction to start shortly after a contractor is chosen.

The project is expected to be completed next fall, he says, adding, “Because the station will be constructed on campus, we plan to keep the existing route on Fort George Wright Drive operating until it’s complete.”

Rapez-Betty says STA doesn’t anticipate detours during construction, but if detours should be needed, SFCC will be notified and they also will be listed on STA’s website.

The new Spokane Falls Station is designed to provide improved passenger safety, better transit visibility to encourage ridership, improved access to the campus, and help support planned city street investments as well as the West Hills neighborhood vision.

“We’ve worked closely with SFCC in particular in order to ensure the new transit station will serve the needs of students and the institution,” he says.

Rapez-Betty says the new transit station will relocate three transit stops from Fort George Wright Drive to the western portion of campus, and a new traffic signal will be added to accommodate bus and traffic access to the campus.

“Right now, the stops are along Fort George Wright Drive, where traffic speeds can be high,” he says. “This was causing a safety concern, so we looked at ideas for relocating those stops to a more integrated part of campus.”

Rapez-Betty says the transit station will include an off-street passenger boarding area, shelters, and other passenger amenities, such as pedestrian lighting, bike racks, bench seating, and trash cans.

He says the project also will revise campus driveways to accommodate bus traffic better and improve safety and traffic access to campus.

“We want to make sure that the driveways will be strong enough to support the weight of a bus, and wide enough to accommodate their turns,” he says.