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New exit off of I-90 aimed to ease congestion at Freya

The state is planning to replace this existing westbound exit for Freya Street on Interstate 90 with a new exit that would begin just after the Havana Street overpass. It should relieve congestion and will be planned to be as compatible as possible with the new North Spokane Corridor interchange in the future. (Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)
The state is planning to replace this existing westbound exit for Freya Street on Interstate 90 with a new exit that would begin just after the Havana Street overpass. It should relieve congestion and will be planned to be as compatible as possible with the new North Spokane Corridor interchange in the future. (Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)Buy a print of this photo
By Mike Prager mikeprager15@gmail.com(509) 459-5454

Traffic congestion at the Thor-Freya interchange on Interstate 90 is going to get some relief with a new exit ramp to be built this summer.

Washington Department of Transportation engineers have been working on a design that would ease congestion at the westbound exit, which often backs up onto the freeway, said Al Gilson, spokesman for the agency in Spokane.

The state is hoping to get the project underway this year with work occurring through summer, he said.

At an estimated cost of $3.5 million to $4 million, the new exit would be the largest construction project for the state Transportation Department in the Spokane region this year.

When completed, westbound vehicles would exit I-90 just west of the Havana Street overpass and then drop down to Second Avenue.

The state already owns real estate in the path of the planned exit and homes there were removed as part of the preparations for the construction of a North Spokane Corridor interchange with I-90. That project is still a number of years in the future.

But Gilson said the new exit should match up with plans for the complex interchange at the south end of the North Spokane Corridor, which won funding last summer as part of a large, multiyear state transportation construction package.

Currently, I-90 traffic exits the freeway for Freya and Thor streets a short distance east of the Freya overpass. Vehicles then pass through a traffic light at Second and Freya.

Part of the congestion is caused by the current need for a light with three phases for traffic: one serving the exit, one serving northbound Freya and one serving through traffic on Second.

Placing the exit onto Second east of the intersection will allow the light to be reduced to two phases, which should move traffic through the intersection faster.

The new exit “is going to solve a lot of problems,” Gilson said.

Joy Hart, former chairwoman of the East Central Neighborhood Council, said the design should be a benefit in moving traffic.

But she said the neighborhood is concerned about the North Spokane Corridor interchange limiting access to the neighborhood.

Gilson said details of the interchange are still being studied.

DOT designers have been in touch with the neighborhood about the future connection of I-90 and the north Spokane freeway.

Currently, the corridor is completed from Wandermere and its interchange with U.S. Highway 395 south to Francis Avenue.

Completion would take about $879 million, including the cost of inflation in construction prices.