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North Spokane Corridor
Summary
The first leg of the long-sought North Spokane freeway opened in August 2009 and provides partial achievement of a high-speed, non-stop link from Interstate 90 to the edge of the Spokane urban area, a distance of 10.5 miles. The northern half of the project from Francis Avenue to Wandermere Road on U.S. Highway 395 is scheduled to open in 2011. It will complement the two-lane section opened in 2009, and will have interchange access for the two major North Side highways – U.S. 2 and 395.
Nearly $570 million has been committed to planning, right-of-way and construction so far. That includes a $35 million federal economic stimulus grant awarded in 2010. DOT estimates it will need another $1.6 billion to finish the freeway from Francis to I-90 and could spend another 20 years on the job. By then, the total cost could swell to $3 billion.
As early as 1946, state officials called for building a companion roadway adjacent to Division Street to improve North Side traffic flow. The push for a freeway accelerated in the 1960s and ‘70s, but a route through the Logan and Lidgerwood neighborhoods ran into opposition and stalled.
Selection of the current route on the east side of Hillyard occurred after BNSF Railway closed its facilities there in the 1980s, leaving behind large hunks of little-used property. Opposition to the current project has largely been limited to residents in the path of the freeway and a handful of activists.
Proponents see the freeway as means to increase efficiency of the region’s roads, allowing freight and general traffic to move through the area more quickly and creating jobs and economic growth in the process.
Summary written by staff writer Mike Prager
More information
Latest updates in this topic
Federal bill to fund city highways
The North Spokane freeway, Interstate 90 and Riverside Avenue were all winners Friday in the national competition for federal highway money. Congress funded those and several other Eastern Washington projects …
Highway cost estimates startle
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Property owners condemn DOT over corridor plans
The state Department of Transportation has run into a tangle of complaints and lawsuits as it begins buying property for the proposed north Spokane freeway.
Ground broken for $1 billion North Spokane Corridor
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First segment of north-south freeway to get start
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3 freeway routes remain on the table
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Freeway deemed ‘wasteful’
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Second freeway meeting creates less angst
Thursday’s open house on the proposed north-south freeway drew fewer people and far less angst than a similar meeting last week.
Open house sheds little light on freeway
They came hoping for answers. But many left an open house on Spokane’s proposed north-south freeway Thursday feeling more confused than enlightened.
Possible freeway routes put homeowners on edge
For years, Spokane’s north-south freeway was like a horse on a child’s Christmas list - something longed for though never truly expected.
North-south freeway will be built from Hillyard down
The likelihood of state money is making the north-south freeway seem more like reality than a pipe dream. State officials have now decided freeway construction should begin at the less-developed …
North-south freeway could get $120 million start
The state Transportation commission believes the Legislature should spend $120 million on Spokane’s proposed north-south freeway.
North-south freeway to exact quite a toll
More than 500 homes and 115 businesses many of them in one of Spokane’s poorest and most ethnically diverse neighborhood would be razed or moved if engineers ever get the …
Freeway Hearing Draws 150 Wary, Interested Show Up To Figure Impact Of Route North
The calm, the concerned and the curious came to a public hearing Thursday to find out how a 10-mile freeway project would affect them. They peered at wall-sized neighborhood maps, …