Heads up: The Monroe Street Bridge will be closed for about two weeks starting this Monday, June 3rd. Motorists will be detoured over the Spokane River via the Washington Street Bridge, and delays should be anticipated. Motorists also can use the Maple Street Bridge.

The closure will accommodate utility work needed for a project that will manage stormwater from some City streets and from streets and other hard surfaces within the Kendall Yards development. The $1.6 million joint City Of Spokane project requires significant excavation work at the north end of the bridge, ultimately catching stormwater that is currently flowing, untreated, into the Spokane River. It will now direct runoff to a retention tank, then pump it to a treatment area in a new park being built to the west on the Kendall Yards site, called Olmsted Green.

This project is consistent with a new Integrated Clean Water Plan the City is developing to manage stormwater and wastewater that impacts the Spokane River. The plan will prioritize projects based on their positive environmental impact to the river. It will include projects to reduce untreated discharges to the river from both separated storm sewers and combined sanitary and stormwater sewers.  

One of the goals of the plan is to incorporate new cost-effective, green technologies for managing stormwater on site and reduce the amount flowing into pipes that discharge directly to the river. The Kendall Yards project is a good example of such innovative work. Others include storm gardens that were built on Lincoln Street on the South Hill and a project on Broadway Avenue near the courthouse that include pervious pavement and stormwater planters.

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