I-90 fix begins soon

Interstate 90 is Spokane’s transportation lifeline.

This summer and next it’s getting an angioplasty, right in the heart of the city.

Repairing the deeply rutted lanes in the downtown core will ease traffic flow in the long run, but get ready for some temporary pain, which, depending on your tolerance, could be excruciating.

The $13 million I-90 viaduct rehabilitation project will clog traffic until mid-September. Backups, especially in the early weeks, could stretch for miles as crews repair the north side of the elevated portion of the freeway downtown.

One mile of heavily traveled interstate will be reduced to two lanes in each direction. Several exits and on-ramps will be closed, and many vehicles diverted to city streets. At night, the freeway may be limited to one lane in each direction.

And all of this happens in the middle of downtown’s big season, when thousands visit for the Lilac Festival, Hoopfest and 4th of July fireworks show.

A second phase of the project happens next summer.

Preparation work is under way, and the main operation begins May 15, when ramps will be closed and lane restrictions put in place.

Businesses are already working to head off drivers’ anticipated reluctance to travel downtown during the project, with flashy TV ads saying it’s still easy to get around.

But driving downtown certainly won’t be the same.

Within the Division Street to Maple Street project area, westbound I-90 traffic won’t be able to exit at Lincoln Street. Eastbound traffic won’t be able to exit at Division Street.

The return trip will be limited, too, with just the eastbound Division Street on-ramp and westbound Maple Street on-ramp open.

And the speed limit will be lowered to 45 mph.

Traffic will be reduced to two lanes in each direction, and the exits closed at 12:01 a.m. May 15. Vehicles will initially travel on the same sides of the freeway they do now while crews install barriers. Within two weeks, all traffic will be moved into very narrow lanes on the northern half of the freeway.

Traffic engineers and local officials say they expect the initial days of construction to be rough on drivers but add that they also expect the situation to settle down as drivers adjust.

Twenty years of studs

The state last rehabilitated the freeway viaduct 20 years ago.

At that time the problem wasn’t ruts; it was corrosion. Years of water seeping through the pavement surface had damaged the underlying rebar. After that was repaired, the state added an impenetrable layer which protects the deck from corrosion.

But tire studs have now ripped through that layer, exposing the viaduct to corrosion again, said Washington State Department of Transportation spokesman Al Gilson.

The ruts – as deep as two inches – are dangerous to drivers, said Gilson. In warmer weather they can fill with water and cause hydroplaning. In the winter, ice inside them can’t be reached by state snowplows.

And they often toss small cars around like rag dolls.

The ruts have also exposed the edges of viaduct metal expansion joints, said Robert Blegen, the state’s assistant project engineer. Pieces have even popped out, hitting vehicles.

So the state will spend this summer and next repairing the ruts and damaged expansion joints. This year the northern half of the viaduct will be fixed. Next year crews will move over to the southern half.

Traffic didn’t back up too much the last go-around in 1985 and 1986, said WSDOT’s Darrel McCallum, who worked on that project and is the project engineer for this viaduct fix.

But 45,000 vehicles a day used that stretch of I-90 then. Today the average daily traffic is 90,000, with summer numbers easily reaching 100,000, McCallum said.

Even 20 years ago, incidents like a truck spilling a load of aluminum cans onto the viaduct backed traffic up for miles during the project, he added.

Since then, traffic volumes have grown to the point where a rush-hour collision near Altamont Street a couple of weeks ago clogged the freeway for four miles, back to Argonne Road.

The contractor has 90 working days to finish, but an extra month has been added in case of bad weather or complications.

Typically, “working days” means Monday through Friday, but with this project, all seven days are working days. “We recognize this is a huge impact to the traveling public so we’re doing everything we can to manage that and get the contractor in and out as quickly as possible,” said McCallum.

In fact, the contractor will earn a $5,000 bonus for every day the project is done early, up to $25,000.

The roads less traveled

Project engineers are telling drivers that they have the power to prevent freeway traffic jams.

Congestion may be unavoidable, but Blegen said freeway flow can be better maintained if drivers use local streets for local trips, and leave I-90 to drivers and tourists traveling through town.

“The more people we can keep off that main line, the better it’s going to operate,” he said.

There are quite a few alternatives for drivers heading west from Spokane Valley to downtown. Trent and Sprague can be used to avoid the freeway altogether. Or drivers might choose to exit early, at Altamont, Hamilton or Second Avenue to avoid the construction zone.

Taking Argonne north to Bigelow Gulch and then heading west is a good option for Valley-to-north Spokane traffic.

From the west, options are more limited, but the numbers of downtown-bound trips are fewer as well. The Sunset Highway carries traffic onto Third and into downtown Spokane.

Those coming into town from the south on Highway 195 can cut through Vinegar Flats on Inland Empire Way.

Many of these alternate routes to the Spokane city center will be signed to make navigating easier for the public, said Gilson.

Working together

The Washington State Department of Transportation began working last year with the city of Spokane, businesses, schools, Spokane Transit and hospitals to ensure chaos wouldn’t reign this summer and next.

“We’ve been out there more than with any other project over the last dozen years,” said Gilson.

Other construction projects, such as Spokane’s recent westside water main project on Inland Empire Way, were timed to wrap up before the I-90 project begins.

“This was thoroughly coordinated, including pre-purchasing of some of the pipes,” said Tom Arnold, Spokane’s director of engineering services.

The city has also been testing a new signal-timing format downtown designed with longer cycles to move more vehicles during the project.

“We’re going to do everything we can to make things as painless as possible,” said Arnold, who added he’s appreciated the state’s efforts to work with the city and others. “Old school, you would have just closed it down.”

The viaduct project itself was timed to overlap as little as possible with the school year, in large part because of under-freeway parking used by Lewis and Clark High School students and Eastern Washington University students who catch the bus to Cheney.

Parking will still be allowed under the viaduct, but may be temporarily restricted in places when demolition would cause grimy water and small debris to rain down on parked cars.

Businesses have also worked to make their imprint on project plans.

The Downtown Spokane Partnership lobbied to keep the westbound Maple Street exit open to traffic.

Engineers originally planned to close it, to keep as much traffic off the project portion of the freeway as possible, but relented this winter.

If traffic backs up onto the freeway, however, the exit will be closed, Blegen said.

“This is the ramp that is on the bleeding edge of working or not working,” he said.

Downtown businesses, together with Spokane Transit and the Spokane Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau, recently instituted a $60,000 media campaign to alleviate people’s fears and let them know downtown is accessible during viaduct construction, said STA spokeswoman Molly Myers.

Television ads began airing last week, proclaiming “It’s still easy to get downtown,” and the CVB and Downtown Spokane Partnership will be handing out thousands of fliers in the coming months detailing alternate routes.

“The ultimate would be for the downtown workers to take alternative routes to leave the main route for visitors unfamiliar with the town,” said Marla Nunberg-Oleniacz, the Downtown Spokane Partnership’s marketing director.

Or to take the bus.

Spokane Transit is promoting itself as another option for drivers frustrated by traffic jams, “to try to entice them to use the bus downtown rather than meandering through the construction,” said Myers.

STA recently released bus schedules for several of its express routes during the project, adding five minutes to their trip time to accommodate construction delays. Those buses, which travel between downtown Spokane and Liberty Lake and Spokane Valley, will alter routes to take the Hamilton Street exit.

STA has also been coordinating with Hoopfest officials to assist with transportation during that event.

Plan ahead and stay alert

“Don’t be using your cell phone or playing with the radio. This is a place where you really need to pay attention,” said Gilson.

Especially in the early stages of the project, lane alterations should be expected. And with the travel lanes reduced to just 10 1/2 feet in width, there isn’t room for driver error.

Most of all, drivers are urged to have patience during construction, said Blegen.

“There are going to be delays,” he said. “This is the major artery through town.”