Kendall Yard project opens new town link for area riders

Development of the Kendall Yards last year in Spokane has provided a new link for bicycle trail riders from Whitman County and other points of origin.

The Kendall Yard project is located near downtown Spokane west of Riverfront Park.

As a side benefit of the project, developers were required to finish a rough section of the Centennial Trail which crosses in front of the project along the north bank of the Spokane River across from downtown Spokane.

The Centennial Trail, which starts along Coeur d’Alene Lake, runs through Coeur d’Alene, crosses the stateline, follows the Spokane River all the way through Spokane to the Nine Mile Dam northwest Spokane.

Many segments of the trail have remained unfinished, and the Kendall Yard area was one of them.

In fact, bikers who approached Riverfront Park from the east end of the trail, were officially directed along city streets via Monroe and Maxwell. They then descended down Petter Drive, known as Doomsday Hill, to the Menach Bridge where they could return on a solitary trail which continues along the west side of the river.

The Kendall Yards area since Spokane Expo ‘74 has been a sort of a wreck zone which was left when the Spokane railroad routes were consolidated onto the big bridge which overlooks I-90. Now, the trail is cleared and paved through the Kendall area.

Bicycle riders from this area start along the Columbia Plateau Trail at Cheney or other points, descend into Spokane via the Marshall grade, cross the Spokane River at the Sandifur Bridge, ascend the loop route up the new Kendall link and ride into the Riverfront Park area without sharing a traffic lane.

The Columbia Plateau Trail runs along the former Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railroad line. It contacts Whitman County at Lamont. It also runs along Highway 26 at Hooper, crosses at Washtucna and continues to Kahlotus and down to the Snake River.

On paper, it’s possible for a rider to start at Washtucna or Kahlotus and pedal all the way to Riverfront Park in Spokane, but it could take several days and possibly more than one bicycle because the trail route has not been developed for most of the way.

Trailheads are located west of Sprague and at Amber Lake, but best access for most county residents is the trailhead just east of Cheney on the Bradshaw Road. Riders can start north on the paved trail there and continue to Fish Lake. The paved trail ends at Fish Lake, but they can continue down the Cheney-Spokane Highway on a marked lane to Schribner Road. That provides a crossing at one of two railroad which descend into Spokane via Marshall. Riders can then remain on the Fish Lake Trail all the way to the trailhead which is on the south side of Sunset in west Spokane.

The last link requires a careful walk across Sunset and down Government Way to the Riverside Intersection.

At this point the route becomes a reverse of the Bloomsday course. Travel east on riverside, cross Hangman Creek, take a left on the first street and look for the parking area along the river at Sandifur Bridge. Then it’s up the hill to the new Kendall link and east along the trail into Riverfront Park.