The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
37°F
Current Conditions
Broken clouds
View complete weather report
Subscribe now

Spokane Falls Boulevard to reopen Tuesday

With finish work being completed on the new combined sewer overflow tank outside the Spokane Public Library, at right, the lanes of Spokane Falls Boulevard through the work zone will reopen Tuesday to allow Lincoln St. to be closed for other infrastructure work. The road surface will be gravel and it is only a temporary reopening. It will close again for finish work when Lincoln St. is finished. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
With finish work being completed on the new combined sewer overflow tank outside the Spokane Public Library, at right, the lanes of Spokane Falls Boulevard through the work zone will reopen Tuesday to allow Lincoln St. to be closed for other infrastructure work. The road surface will be gravel and it is only a temporary reopening. It will close again for finish work when Lincoln St. is finished. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
By Nicholas Deshais nickd@spokesman.com(509) 459-5440

At long last.

Two years and two months after the city closed Spokane Falls Boulevard between Lincoln Street and Main Avenue, it’s reopening the major downtown road again.

Beginning at 6 a.m. Tuesday, traffic will again flow on the road while work related to the giant stormwater tank constructed on the Spokane River gorge face shifts to Lincoln. At that point, Lincoln will be closed to traffic between Main and Spokane Falls Boulevard.

Spokane Falls will have two lanes, in line with its final design. It previously had three.

The city closed the downtown route, which had an average of 7,600 cars a day, in March 2017 as it embarked on a two-year project to build a $20 million, 2.2-million gallon stormwater tank. The project is the largest in the city’s effort to stop nearly all untreated sewage and stormwater from entering the Spokane River.

When complete, the work also will deliver a new pedestrian plaza overlooking the lower Spokane falls and Huntington Park.

The city says the street’s reopening isn’t permanent. It’s only while work is being done below Lincoln Street. Spokane Falls Boulevard is expected to be completely reopened to vehicular traffic this fall. Some portions of Spokane Falls Boulevard are yet to be paved and are covered in gravel for the time being.