State Says Evergreen Interchange Now Will Need Seven-Lane Bridge

State transportation officials say a new Interstate 90 interchange at Evergreen Road should include a seven-lane bridge that would span up to 10 freeway lanes - and that has some county officials worried.

Earlier plans called for a five-lane bridge, but traffic studies done by the Washington State Department of Transportation showed more lanes were needed, said Al Gilson, spokesman for the DOT.

County Commissioner Kate McCaslin said a seven-lane bridge “seems excessive both in terms of what we’re likely to need and in cost.”

There are no plans to extend Evergreen Road north beyond the Spokane River, so there’s really no need to build such a mammoth and expensive bridge, she said.

“I think they should make it a more reasonable structure and they could cut off a million,” in costs, McCaslin said.

The DOT’s proposal for a seven-lane bridge over I-90 would include two lanes each for north- and south-bound traffic and three turn lanes, Gilson said. Freeway exit and entrance ramps for the diamond interchange would be a single lane.

The DOT will build Evergreen north from the interchange to Indiana as a six-lane road, Gilson said. The county will widen Evergreen to five lanes from the interchange south to Sprague Avenue, said Ross Kelley, assistant county engineer.

Design work on the interchange, should be complete by the end of the month, Gilson said.

The entire project, including the seven-lane bridge, will cost about $23.4 million, he said.

McCaslin said she plans to contact the Valley’s state legislators, who are hoping to pry $4 million in state funding out of Olympia for the project.

She said she will tell them that the seven-lane bridge is too big and too costly. If the state wants to build the bigger project, that’s fine, she said, but the state should pay for it.

If all funding for the project is in place, construction of the new interchange could begin this year, Gilson said. However, the project will not go to bid until full funding is in place, he said.

The new interchange will be paid for jointly by the state, the county and private developers. JP Realty, Hanson Industries and Inland Empire Paper Co. - all of which own large parcels of land north of I-90 that would be served by the new interchange - have agreed to pay a share of the construction cost.

More money is still needed, however.

JP Realty, Hanson Industries and Inland Empire Paper have talked about putting up $6.9 million toward the cost of building the interchange.

This session, the state Legislature will consider whether to appropriate $4 million for the interchange.

At least one Valley lawmaker has said developers need to place their contribution into a good-faith account to prove their commitment to the project before the Legislature will provide money the $4 million.

“Absolutely, that money has to be there before the Legislature appropriates the dollars,” said state Rep. Mark Sterk, R-Spokane Valley.

But even with $6.9 million from the developers and another $4 million from the Legislature, there would still be a $2.4 million funding shortfall.

Developers have suggested they might seek additional state money to make up for the shortfall, or ask the county to require late-comer developers to help pay for the interchange.

The county has placed a moratorium on large developments in the area near the new Spokane Valley Mall until the new interchange is built.

Projects on hold because of the moratorium include the Mirabeau Point community complex.

For the past few months, developers have been trying to hammer out a deal amongst themselves on exactly how much each will pay.

Valley insurance executive Denny Ashlock, head of the non-profit group pushing Mirabeau Point, had been working with developers to come up with a funding formula and was trying to convince them to put their money into an account that would demonstrate their good faith to the Legislature.

However, Ashlock died unexpectedly Dec. 30, with no deal struck and no good-faith account established.

Greg Bever, associate publisher of the Journal of Business and co-leader with Ashlock of the volunteer Mirabeau Point project, said he will continue to push for a deal that will allow the project to move ahead.

, DataTimes