Open house on north freeway planned

An informational open house on progress on the north Spokane freeway will be held next Thursday at the East Central Community Center, 500 S. Stone St.

The meeting will update the community on acquisition of right of way and construction of the north end of the freeway, which is expected eventually to link Interstate 90 with U.S. highways 2 and 395 north of Spokane, state officials said.

The open house will be held from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. The public is invited to drop by at any time during those hours to view maps and other information and talk with state transportation staff members.

The state Department of Transportation is designing and contracting for the construction of what it calls the U.S. 395/North Spokane Corridor project. Residential property acquisition is expected to start in July in the area north of I-90 and west of Freya Street.

Eight construction contracts currently are being funded to complete a freeway link from the vicinity of Freya and Francis Avenue to Highway 395 near Wandermere. Completion of the link from Freya and Francis to Highway 2 is expected in 2009; the segment northwestward to Wandermere should be finished in 2011, according to Al Gilson, of the state Transportation Department.

Project information is available on the Web at www.nscfreeway.com; weekly construction and traffic updates are available at www.wsdot.wa.gov/regions/eastern/constructionupdate.