Eight Road Projects Planned For Valley

From the Valley Voice, March 18, 2000, page V6: Clarification The boundaries of the Ponderosa sewer project are east of Van Marter Road, west and south of Dishman-Mica Road and north of 50th Court.

The state and county have eight major road projects planned this year in the Spokane Valley.

Drivers will start seeing backhoes and detour signs pop up in the next month.

It’s too soon to predict exact road closure dates for various projects, but county engineers said it’ll be an unusually busy road construction season for the Valley.

Many sewer and road widening projects that have been in the plans for years will get under way this spring.

Here’s a look at what’s coming:

* Work will begin in two weeks on widening Sullivan Road between 16th and 32nd avenues.

Norm’s Utility Contractor of Post Falls was awarded the $1.5 million contract to widen Sullivan to five lanes.

A new sewer line will go in beneath Sullivan between 24th Avenue and Saltese Road.

Total cost for the project will be $3.1 million.

The county hopes to have paving done “before the snow falls,” said assistant county engineer Ross Kelley.

* The first part of the Valley Couplet, from Thierman Road to Dishman-Mica Road, will be finished this fall.

The project goes to bid in two weeks and construction will start the end of April.

Traffic will be routed over the couplet starting in October.

* Late April will also mark the start of work on the $1.1 million Evergreen Road expansion.

Evergreen will be widened from two to five lanes between Sprague and Mission avenues. Sidewalks and bike lanes will also be added.

Parts of Evergreen will be closed from April through its completion date in November.

* The state Department of Transportation will work to complete its part of the Evergreen Road project - a new Interstate 90 interchange, including an extension of Evergreen from Mission to the freeway interchange - at the same time as the county in November.

The $23.4 million interchange will hook Evergreen to I-90 and extend the road north to the Spokane Valley Mall.

* Mid-April will be the beginning of sewer projects in the area.

Parts of Mission Avenue between Woodruff and Pines roads will be closed while the county adds sewers.

The area from Mission to I-90 will be torn up extensively between mid-April and early July.

Mission will be widened slightly, from 38 to 44 feet, but no other improvements will be made beyond new asphalt.

* After finishing the Mission Avenue sewer project, the county will begin adding sewers to the neighborhoods around University Road.

Sewers will go in at University between Main and Mission avenues and the road will be widened to three lanes with curbs and sidewalks. It is expected to be finished by fall.

* Sewer work will tear up much of the south Ponderosa neighborhood starting in May.

New roads will be put in along with the sewers in the area between 44th Avenue, Van Marter Road and Dishman-Mica Road.

No major road improvements are planned and the county hopes to have that part done by October.

* Widening of I-90 between the Broadway and Argonne interchanges should be finished this fall, said DOT spokesman Al Gilson. I-90 will be increased from two to three lanes in each direction.

The DOT is still waiting on the Legislature for word on whether the state will fund widening the westbound portion of I-90 between Broadway and Havana. Work on that part of I-90 wouldn’t begin until 2001.