Paving begins Sept. 23

The city of Spokane Valley is making a final road construction push before chilly weather sets in and makes paving impossible.

Two projects are scheduled to begin on Sept. 23 – the repaving of Indiana Avenue between Pines Road and Mirabeau Parkway and Carnahan Road between Eighth Avenue and the city limits. Sprague Avenue between Park Road and Vista Road will be repaved starting in mid-October, if weather allows.

“It starts getting complicated when you’re dealing with three different street segments,” said project engineer Craig Aldworth. “This is very late for a paving job.”

The work on Indiana is likely to have the most impact on drivers. Traffic will be down to one lane in each direction for about a month, with crews beginning work on the south lanes first.

The Spokane Transit Authority Park and Ride lot on Indiana will be closed for a day toward the end of the project. Bus riders will be notified of the exact date in advance by STA, Aldworth said. “They’re going to move to a nearby parking area,” he said.

The work on Carnahan, a residential street with few homes, is expected to take two weeks. “We’re going to close the street and have a detour,” said Aldworth. “The big neighborhood is on 14th (Avenue), and they’ll be able to get through.”

Aldworth said he’ll take a look at the weather after the Indiana and Carnahan projects are complete and decide whether to begin paving work on Sprague or postpone it until spring. Temperatures must be above 45 degrees during paving work. “If we have good weather – a dry, warm fall – we’ll probably get Sprague done,” Aldworth said. “What we don’t want to do is have him grind and then not be able to pave.”

The three paving projects are being paid with the city’s Street Preservation Fund. Spokane Rock Products is the contractor for the nearly $1 million project.