Construction season
They pop up every spring and seemingly spread like wildfire when the wind blows. No, not dandelion – road construction cones. Backhoes are breaking ground all over Spokane Valley as crews get a May start on road construction season. Several neighborhoods are just a week away from sewer trenching. Both Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake have sizable paving improvement projects slated for major byways. Spokane County has a busy construction schedule for well-traveled Upriver Drive. Big doings are also under way for Bigelow Gulch. And the concrete walls channeling cars around road construction on Interstate 90 will be put to the test.
A rundown of summer road projects follows, starting with the seven large sewer line projects mostly east of Park Road:
The Orchard Avenue neighborhood is the northernmost Spokane Valley sewer project of 2005. From east to west, the project stretches from Vista Road to Park Road, with a little bit of a southwestern dogleg along Bridgeport Avenue to Coleman Road. North to south, the project stretches from the Spokane River to Dalton Avenue, where depending on the block, some neighbors will be left out. The project should begin in the next couple weeks.
The Edgerton neighborhood is getting new sewer lines between Utah and Trent avenues from north to south and Park and Thierman from east to west. Backhoes should start digging in May.
The Park Road neighborhood between Indiana Avenue and I-90 is getting sewer this summer. Construction should start in May or June. From east to west, most of the construction takes place between Bowman and Thierman roads.
There’s even a sewer line planned for the “Inland” neighborhood, which consists mostly of a massive gravel pit near the intersection of Broadway and I-90.The project is bordered by Park Road and Heacox and Sprague avenues.
The westernmost sewer project on the 2005 agenda is the Carnahan neighborhood between Havana and Eastern Roads from west to east and Fourth and Eighth avenues from north to south.
The final two projects are in the Dishman-Mica Road area. Sherwood Forest and Mica Park subdivisions are both slated for sewer construction in the next few weeks. The excavating will take place between Woodruff Road and the east boundary of the Dishman Hills Natural Area. The project stretches nearly eight blocks between Archery and 16th avenues.
There will be a construction-free zone to the north of the Sherwood project along Eighth Avenue, but the dirt starts piling up again a few blocks away in the Johnston neighborhood. Sewer construction in the Johnston neighborhood will continue to Appleway Boulevard.
Sewer projects aside, this is a landmark season for road construction for the city of Spokane Valley. It is the first year projects were completely planned and funded through the 2-year-old city rather than inherited from the county. And the projects aren’t pothole jobs.
“The biggest one would be the widening of Barker Road, and we’re trying to get it out to bid this year,” said Steve Worley, senior engineer for Spokane Valley. “We’re working now on acquiring the necessary right of way.”
Barker Road is slated for a streetlong center turning lane, plus bike lanes and sidewalks along the shoulders of the new three-lane road. There’s also a traffic signal in the works for Barker-Mission intersection. Long-term plans also call for a new Barker Road Bridge across the Spokane River, but the bridge is more than a year out.
This season, the city plans to begin widening the street from Barker Bridge south to the I-90 intersection.
The next big project is a two-mile resurfacing of Broadway Avenue between Bates and Sullivan roads. Workers will grind a couple inches from the road’s surface and fill it with new asphalt. Construction may not begin until later in the summer, Worley said, but the city plans to have the road resurfaced before classes begin at the several public schools along the avenue.
Smaller projects on the city’s docket include: anew layer of asphalt for Argonne Road between Indiana and Montgomery avenues; a new layer of asphalt for three lanes of Dishman-Mica Road between First and Sprague avenues; and the completion of a Park Road sidewalk and paving project, which began in 2004.
Spokane Valley isn’t the only Valley city shaking with equipment this summer. Liberty Lake Community Development Director Doug Smith said a new turning lane would be added to Appleway Boulevard between Molter and Simpson roads to accommodate Huntwood, a large manufacturer of furniture, on the boulevard. Appleway currently tapers at Molter. The city is also adding pavement to a short stretch of Signal Road. Both projects should be under way by June. Liberty Lake’s pedestrian bridge over Interstate 90 is also well under way.
Outside city limits, Spokane County will begin work on a multiyear expansion project of Bigelow Gulch Road. Bigelow’s intersection with Argonne Road will be widened to six lanes in each direction this summer. The widened road will continue for about a thousand feet in each direction on Argonne and about 2,000 feet on Bigelow Gulch. Over the next few years, those spokes will connect with four-lane thoroughfares.
Narrow, winding Bigelow Gulch Road is being expanded because it is one of the few connectors between Spokane Valley and north Spokane. Long-term plans call for a highway-like Bigelow route from Sullivan Road to Morgan Acres.
Spokane Valley’s only other connection to Spokane’s North Side, Upriver Drive, is also scheduled for a resurfacing project this summer between Havana and Buckeye roads. New layers of asphalt should be added to the stretch by late June. A smaller resurfacing is in store for Wellesley Avenue where it turns into the Upriver Drive near Plantes Ferry Park.
Of course, the unavoidable construction project of the season is the six-lane conversion of I-90 between Sullivan and Argonne roads. The project, which began last year and is expected to last into November, has four lanes of traffic sharing the portion of the road intended for eastbound traffic, while the westbound portion of the concrete interstate is poured. Westbound Evergreen Road on ramps and off ramps are closed. The eastbound Evergreen ramps are open. Westbound motorists headed to Valley Mall need to use the Sullivan or Pines exits. The eastbound Evergreen ramps remain open. The speed limit during construction is 50 mph and strictly enforced, especially on Saturdays.