Then and now: Latah Creek Bridge

The towering elevated rail bridge that drivers see from I-90 has its origins with the early rail barons.

Section:Gallery

Mon., Oct. 5, 2020

1972: A Burlington Northern train makes one of the first runs over the railroad’s new, 4,260-foot-long Latah Creek Bridge, which went into use on Dec. 6, 1973. Merger of four railroads into the Burlington Northern spurred consolidation of railroad routing in Spokane, and the opening of the new bridge route signaled the start of a project to remove tracks no longer needed along Spokane’s riverfront. The line improvement cost $16.2 million and included construction of seven miles of new track and 11 bridges.

The Spokesman-Review Photo Archive
Present day: Close to 50 years since it was built, a BNSF Railway train makes its way over the 1972 Latah Creek Bridge last Tuesday in west Spokane. The U.S. Supreme Court in 1970 allowed the merger of the Great Northern and Northern Pacific railroads to create Burlington Northern, which allowed the company to abandon tracks along the river and prompted construction of this bridge. The removal of tracks on Havermale Island provided space for Expo ’74 and today’s Riverfront Park.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo