Chip Sealing On Upriver Drive Is Canceled

Signs along Upriver Drive have warned motorists to expect 15-minute delays starting Tuesday.

Those delays won’t happen.

The chip sealing project planned for Upriver won’t happen this construction season, the Spokane County engineering office announced Thursday.

The county had planned to make use of an innovative chip sealing machine that was scheduled to stop in Spokane on its way to California, said county operations engineer Phil Barto.

“We’re always looking for a better methodology,” Barto said, “It looked like this would’ve worked really well.”

The chip seal project was planned for nearly all of Upriver Drive east of the Spokane city limits and for a portion of Wellesley Avenue in the Spokane Valley.

The county was told the machine might be fixed by the end of August, but Barto said, “We’re 90 percent sure it’s not going to happen at all.”

“The road needs some work, but it’s not essential that it be done this year,” he said.

The county will do two chip sealing projects in the Valley next week.

Lakeside Road will be chip sealed from Idaho Road to Valleyway on July 31. Glenrose Road from Havana to 57th Avenue will be chip sealed July 31 and Aug. 1. Drivers should expect slower speeds on those roads.

Other construction projects will continue around the Valley next week:

Daytime lane closures on eastbound Interstate 90 will continue next week between Sprague and Broadway.

Added to those will be occasional night lane restrictions between Broadway and Argonne near Park Road. Paving work is also planned for the Argonne westbound on ramp and eastbound off ramp, which could mean lane restrictions but all ramps will remain open.

Broadway Avenue has remained open during the widening of Evergreen Road. That won’t change this week, but motorists should expect to see lane closures at the intersection while construction crews work on paving.

With the exception of the Broadway intersection, Evergreen remains closed to through traffic from Sprague to Mission while crews work to widen the road.

Another stretch of Broadway will remain closed while construction crews widen and sewer University Road.

Broadway will be closed between Felts and Bates roads for the next two months. University will also remain closed to through traffic from Main to Mission avenues.

State crews will continue repaving Highway 27 this week. The work between 32nd Avenue and Freeman is expected to continue until October.

Construction of the Valley Couplet will make for rough driving on First Avenue between Thierman and Park roads as well as on Lewis Road from Sprague to Second Avenue.

The short stretch of Park from Sprague to Fourth Avenue also remains down to one lane with flaggers.

Sullivan Road remains under construction between 16th Avenue and 32nd Avenue. The intersection of 24th Avenue and Sullivan remains closed.