SPOKANE, Wash. – The City of Spokane gave the public a look at potential plans for a zip line and new plaza in Downtown Spokane.
City leaders want to create new access to the Spokane River. One of the ways it might do that is with a zip line that would fly you right over the roaring rapids of the Spokane River.
"There's a ton of steps between now seeing it come to fruition, one of them being engineering. We need to understand whether or not it would actually work…It's something that we're exploring," Communications Director Brian Coddington said.
The zip line would start at a plaza overlooking the river next to the library, travel under the first small arch of the Monroe Street Bridge and land in Glover Park. City leaders said the zip line would not replace the Sky Ride. The zip line is only one idea in the city's overall river access plan. Once construction on the sewer overflow prevention tank is complete, the city wants to build a plaza overlooking the river.
“A place where people can meet up gather and sit and have a cup of coffee, and if there's any ability to have a cafe or retail establishment,” Coddington said.
While the plaza could serve as the start point for the zip line, it would also become the trail head of a three-mile loop. Coddington said the trail would start at the plaza, head down to Glover Park through Peaceful Valley and on to People's Park. Then continue the loop by crossing over the Sandifur Memorial Bridge and head on up to Kendall Yards.
"That would give people really good access, good vantage point, and nice exercise loop to use as a running or walking trail," Coddington explained.
Coddington said the CSO 26 tank is expected to be completed in 2019, then the city will revisit plans for the plaza.