Pines, I-90 cloverleaf to get redo
Where Pines Road and Interstate 90 cross, drivers navigate six freeway ramps, four stoplights and a railroad crossing in just over a quarter mile between Mission and Indiana.
“It takes forever,” said Steven Macy who lives on Buckeye near the site.
His is one of five residential streets that feed into Pines between the interstate and Trent Avenue. There aren’t lights or turn lanes at Pines on any of them, making it nerve-racking for residents to get in and out.
Engineers hope to alleviate that this summer when plans call for new lights at Mansfield and Mirabeau Parkway. Over two summers, the project also will rearrange the westbound I-90 on and off ramps on the north side of the interchange to funnel exiting freeway traffic onto Indiana instead of directly onto Pines.
“We’ll be able to time the signals to allow the traffic to flow much better than in its current configuration,” said Spokane Valley Senior Engineer Steve Worley.
Right now, lights on Pines at the highway ramps and Indiana are less than 150 feet apart, and one of them will disappear when parts of the ramps are removed.
Before Valley incorporation, Spokane County recognized that the intersection of Pines and Indiana was failing, Worley said. In recent years, government officials have worked out a way to pay for the work with grants and money from some private developers building around it.
“Since their projects are going to create traffic that is going to impact that, they agreed to participate in this project,” Worley said.
The project will cost $4.5 million. Most of that will come from state and federal grants, with about $550,000 coming from those developing nearby land.
Some of that land is owned by Centennial Properties, which is owned by the Cowles Company, which also owns The Spokesman-Review.
Where Buckeye ends, Macy’s yard has a clear view of several rows of nearly completed apartments that back up to Mirabeau Point Park. Both east and west of Pines, new apartments are going in on Mansfield where the construction will widen the road to three lanes and add a stoplight.
By state law, cities aren’t allowed to issue building permits for projects unless road improvements are built within six years.
For Macy, though, it would have made more sense to upgrade the roads first.
“We’re looking for a new home just because of the congestion,” he said.
The recent building boom has prompted local and state government efforts to catch up to traffic on that stretch of Pines, since the first bridge was built over the highway in 1956.
“There was no retail and maybe a few farms and homes,” said Department of Transportation spokesman Al Gilson.
When the Spokane Valley Mall was completed, it added traffic to Indiana, and the last upgrade was made in 1997 when work was done to the south side of the interchange.
Studies on the project are under way and a contractor hasn’t been chosen yet, but officials hope construction will begin this summer.