Ok so the 40 minute comment is mesleading - I live on a road which runs along the Spokane River. There is a paved trail which follows the river all the way downtown where I work. Since the trail follows the river the whole way, there's minimal hills, the steepest part is an overpass, put there to avoid a busy intersection.

Because of the trail, I don't interact with traffic a ton. There are days in which I don't hit the brakes until I am almost all the way there. So I think my 8.9 miles is a little quicker because I don't hit many stop lights or intersections

Thanks for the feedback on the tires;
I don't want to be completely lost if I encounter gravel or road construction.