Kramer span continues momentum to narrow LL divide

By Craig Howard Splash Contributing Editor

Tracy Mertens was talking with a few friends at Fieldhouse Pizza in Liberty Lake earlier this summer when the north side of town came up.

For nearly 20 years, Mertens called the south side of Liberty Lake home, not far from the Meadowwood Golf Course. In 2020, he made the transition across Interstate-90 to the Trutina neighborhood and became a north-sider. To his pals, that section of the community is akin to a foreign country.

“One of my friends who lives in Spokane, didn’t know there was such a thing as the north side of Liberty Lake,” Mertens said. “Another friend who has lived in Liberty Lake a long time thought Liberty Lake is just on the south side. I told them, ‘There’s a whole new development on the north side.’”

Mertens is part of a migration to a burgeoning area known as the River District that has been expanding for nearly two decades. Destination sites like Orchard Park, events like Winter Glow and a burgeoning commercial presence have complemented the residential presence that established the foundation of the community under the direction of Greenstone Homes.

Despite the growth, residents like Mertens see Liberty Lake as segmented.

“There’s a disconnect for sure,” he said. “I see Liberty Lake as three communities – you have the people around the lake, the south side and the north side.”

The disjointed nature of Spokane County’s easternmost city will soon receive a boost of cohesiveness with the opening of the Kramer Parkway Overpass, an ambitious span that is scheduled to be operational by late August. The bridge will carry not only motorists but pedestrians, cyclists and golf carts safely over the freeway.

“I-90 has really divided our community,” said Liberty Lake Planning and Engineering Manager Lisa Key who has overseen the Kramer bridge project for the city. “Just from a community-design standpoint, this bridge will create much better connectivity and access. I can’t think of another project that could be more impactful from that standpoint.”

Key points to the “resilience factor” that will be generated by the city’s newest infrastructure addition.

“If you have a backup on I-90 or Harvard, this is going to make a difference,” she said. “Whether it’s increased access for commercial service or emergency service providers or the community at large, everyone will benefit.”

Liberty Lake Mayor Cris Kaminskas moved to the community 17 years ago and recalls the reluctance of residents to venture across the freeway.

“It was weird,” she said. “No one went across the freeway to do anything.”

Kaminskas said the addition of Orchard Park in the River District has made a difference. The site hosts Winter Glow, a holiday light celebration, every year and has become a popular destination point in the spring and summer.

“I think the River District was feeling left out not having a park over there,” Kaminskas said.

The mayor said the new bridge will mean improved traffic flow, particularly with the proximity to Ridgeline High School on Country Vista Drive, a campus that opened two years ago.

“This will take a lot of pressure off what I call the ‘Walgreen’s light,” Kaminskas said, referring to the intersection of Appleway and Liberty Lake Road.

Crossover Commerce

Versalia Pizza will celebrate its second anniversary in January at a cozy corner near Orchard Park that features generous outdoor seating. General Manager Dominic Welch says he notices an increase in customers during the warm weather months when people flock to the north side greenspace. With the new bridge about to open, Welch is anticipating even more people in line for pizza.

“I’m excited,” he said. “It’s definitely going to make it easier for people to get across.”

Welch is familiar with some of the same stigmas that Mertens has heard when it comes to the north side being a community without an affiliation.

“We’ve been at the Coeur d’Alene (Farmers) Market and told people we are on the north side of Liberty Lake and they don’t think that’s really part of Liberty Lake,” he said. “They think it’s Otis Orchards.”

Not far to the east from Versalia, more commercial ventures can be found among the blossoming residential blocks. From men’s haircuts to coffee to tacos and a dental office, the NoLL (North

Liberty Lake) District sits at the corner of Indiana and Harvard and exemplifies the multi-use, urban feel Greenstone Homes has established in the Kendall Yards neighborhood just outside downtown Spokane.

Greenstone President and CEO Joe Frank said NoLL is being built with accessibility – by foot – at the forefront. The nearby Centennial Trail and Spokane River provide a unique setting for pedestrians and cyclists.

“Everything we do around the River District and NoLL is with that walkable component in mind,” Frank said.

For Greenstone, the ideal mix consists of two-thirds residential and one-third commercial, Frank says. He noted the River District is approximately at 50 percent of buildout to this point.

Frank remembers moving the Rocky Hill neighborhood on the south side with his family in 2005 when the terrain to the north consisted of little more than a collection of homes.

“I’d go over there for work and that was about it,” he said.

As for the impact of the Kramer Overpass on the area, Frank said it’s part of paradigm shift.

“I think for the longest time, there’s been this ‘over there’ mentality,” he said. “With the increase in amenities, that’s changing.”

Kaminskas said she appreciates the distinctive nature of the commercial development on the north side.

“I like the fact that you don’t see the national brands,” she said. “These are unique businesses. We need to draw people to Liberty Lake and have people say, ‘We can only go to Liberty Lake to get this.’ More importantly, we need to keep our residents here.”

River District Roots

When the idea for an expansive development on the north side of Liberty Lake was first announced, Greenstone founder Jim Frank called it “a key component that will affect the growth of Liberty Lake… and set the tone for the economy and quality of life in Liberty Lake and the entire region.”

By 2006, the first phase of