Interchange Wrangling Continues

Sat., July 10, 1999

By Angie Gaddy angieg@spokesman.com

The Evergreen interchange is still stalled.

After developers and Spokane County commissioners signed a deal last fall that ended more than a year of wrangling over the planned Interstate 90 interchange near the Spokane Valley Mall, work on the project is yet to begin.

Construction of the $23.4 million freeway interchange was slated to begin this summer. But developers and the state Department of Transportation have been trying to hammer out the final details before beginning the project.

Those details include access to developer’s land and right of way needed for the diamond interchange, said Jerry Lenzi, DOT’s regional administrator.

The transportation department, which oversees the project, is negotiating with Spokane Valley Mall owner JP Realty and with Raymond Hanson, who is developing retail centers both west and east of the mall.

Lenzi said he hopes an agreement can be reached this week, which would mean construction could begin later this year.

This week representatives for the DOT spoke with Hanson, and they are waiting for a sign-off on the project, Lenzi said.

“We’ve lost a good portion of this construction season,” Lenzi said. “It’s been an arduous process.”

If all goes as planned, the project would go out to bid in August and construction would begin in September, he said.

Hanson spokesman and vice-president Bob Boyle said Hanson has done the traffic studies and engineering work requested by the the state.

“We’re ready to go,” he said. “We’re just waiting for the DOT.”

But Lenzi said this week representatives from the state DOT met with Hanson, and they are waiting for the final OK from developers.

Once an agreement is reached locally, the project will then go to the Federal Highway Administration for final approval.

The interstate project includes building a seven-lane bridge spanning the freeway.

Before the interchange opens, Evergreen Road will be widened from two to five lanes between Mission Avenue and Sprague.

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