Construction Starting On Avenue At Mall Site

Thu., June 13, 1996

By Ward Sanderson wards@spokesman.com

The two big road projects designed to help manage the increased traffic brought by the Spokane Valley Mall are moving closer to reality.

Workers have already started initial work on the easternmost mall connection of the five-lane extension of Indiana Avenue. Contractor bidding will likely open up for north ramp work on the planned Evergreen interchange late next summer.

The $2 million Indiana arterial is being paid for by Hanson Industries, the company developing Sullivan Park Center near the Spokane Valley Mall. The $13 million Evergreen diamond interchange will be paid for jointly by the state, Spokane County, Hanson Industries and mall developer JP Realty.

Dave Carlsen, director of real estate for Hanson Industries, said the Indiana project should be largely finished this summer, though some work may spill into next spring. Either way, the $2 million road will be fully operational by August 1997, when the Spokane Valley Mall is scheduled to open.

That extension will link Pines and Sullivan roads, providing an alternative to drivers who might otherwise congest Interstate 90 with short-distance commutes. The road will be one block north of the freeway.

Construction was supposed to have been under way last year. The original timeline had completion set for October 1995 or spring 1996.

It was delayed due to evolving mall plans. Sewer and water line work, however, was completed last year.

Carlsen said grading and drainage work is being done now where Indiana will connect with the new mall.

Some engineering work still remains. Carlsen said Hanson is looking at some design changes to allow Indiana to also serve Mirabeau Point, the recreation and cultural facility planned to occupy the former site of Walk in the Wild Zoo.

The first phase of the more costly Evergreen project will be the construction of its north ramps. That could begin next year shortly after a contractor is picked, said Ross Kelley, county project engineer.

Carlsen said he hopes there is also a chance that the south ramps could be built at the same time, but details are still being worked out. The state Department of Transportation is currently designing the north ramps, Carlsen said.

Hanson and Kelley say the entire interchange should be competed by 1998 or 1999. Currently, about $11 million of the $13 million needed to build it has been raised.

, DataTimes

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