I think that you are putting too much weight on satisfying the businesses wishes and disreguarding the other facts concerning the benefits of the couplet.  You have said yourself that turing back the streets to the pre-couplet configuration would cause worse air pollution and more congestion at the intersections.  Remember that Sprague Ave is a major east / west arterial and a link between neiborhoods in the east valley and work places closer to the downtown area of Spokane.  If you turn the couplet back to individual two-way streets the east / west traffic flow will clogg as commuters travel to and from their work place.  If you decide that two-way streets are more beneficial, consider making one street; either Sprague or Appleway more of an arterial with more through intersections with fewer stop lights.

Thank you for the oportunity to comment.

Business provides and/or draws in the money and capital that invigorates an area, and the health of business is critical to the well-being of any city.  Without a healthy business climate, capital will drain away to other areas and the local population will find that their wages are lower and that the city is less vibrant.  The purpose of this revitalization plan is just that, revitalization.  The business community is at the center of the question of whether or not the plan will be successful.  Businesses along Sprague must prosper in order to provide the tax revenue necessary to bring this plan to fruition.  Businesses, by a large majority, want Sprague to return to a two-way street.  They should be listened to because they are the drivers of economic success in the community.

We were sold the idea of the couplet that it would lessen commute times.  Millions of dollars were spent on the transformation of the couplet, along with the Sprague interchange on I-90.  Commuters and businesses are both now familar with the current configuration of Sprague and Appleway, with many businesses having frontage on both streets.  From an article in the Spokanesman Review, with the proposed configuation, commute times will be increased by 3 minutes one way, or 6 minutes per day.  Considering the number of vehicles that use the couplet each day, the additional time taken, along the increases in the consumption of costly fuel and emission of greenhouse gases, the conversion does not make sense.  Leaders should be considering ways to lessen commute times, not lengthen them. The resources that would be used to convert the existing couplet back to two way streets could better be utilized in other areas.