Phase two of I-90 viaduct repair begins

Round Two of the big Interstate 90 viaduct repair project in downtown Spokane gets under way today.

Regular freeway users are being advised that their normal routes into and out of downtown may be closed, and that they should find alternate routes starting Monday morning.

Last year, workers spent most of the summer repairing the eastbound concrete lanes, which had developed ruts up to two inches deep largely from the cutting action of studded winter tires.

This year, crews are back to fix the westbound lanes.

As a result, four lanes of traffic will be funneled onto the eastbound lanes through mid-September.

Seven exit and on-ramp options will be closed; traffic will be slowed to 45 mph through the construction zone; and no lane changes will be allowed in that zone.

Lane widths will be squeezed to 10 1/2 feet, down from 12 feet, and with no shoulders. Speeds will also be reduced on approaches to the work zone.

Transportation officials said they hope the project goes as smoothly as last year; there were no traffic accidents during the first round of construction and businesses downtown reported no loss of commerce.

“The downtown commuters found alternate ways to get there,” said Al Gilson, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation. “We thought the Division Street interchange would get backed up. It didn’t.”

Gilson and others credit careful planning, community outreach, news coverage and advertising spots with getting the public to comply.

Of the 100,000 vehicles that normally use the freeway on any given summer day, the number was reduced during construction last year by 27,000 vehicles a day, or almost exactly the estimated number of commuter trips on the freeway.

“People really paid attention to what we were doing. They knew we were coming,” Gilson said.

The fact that everything went smoothly last year has officials a bit nervous. They fear the motoring public may not take seriously the need to find alternate routes.

“Things went so well last year we hope people aren’t lulled into a false sense of security,” said Darrell McCallum, project engineer for the repair, which is costing $13 million over the two years. “People are going to have to learn again. We are back.”

There is one potential problem spot that could make this year’s freeway project more troublesome.

Unlike last year, westbound access to Maple Street will be closed along with the eastbound on-ramp at Maple and Walnut streets. The westbound exit was open last year, providing a critical freeway link to western downtown.

Also, drivers will not be able to get to North Division Street from the eastbound exit at Division/Browne streets. The exit is being left open for emergency access to nearby hospitals and for South Side drivers.

Transportation officials fear that if they allow access to North Division, vehicles will back up onto the constricted lanes and bring traffic to a halt.

In addition, the construction layout calls for closing westbound access to the Browne Street on-ramp; Lincoln Street off-ramp; Maple Street off-ramp; and the on-ramp to Monroe and Jefferson streets. Eastbound access will be closed to the on-ramp serving Maple and Walnut streets; the Monroe Street on-ramp; and the westbound Division Street off-ramp to North Division.

Officials said that if the eastbound Division Street off-ramp starts to back up into the narrowed through lanes, they will close it to hospital and South Side access, as well.

Similar to last summer, signal timing on downtown surface streets will be revised to account for greater east-west traffic and to take advantage of surface streets as holding areas for expected extra traffic during peak periods. “Motorists should expect slower traffic on some downtown streets,” Gilson said in a press release.

In addition, some freeway ramps will temporarily be striped with additional lanes to help move traffic. Parking under the freeway will be restricted at times.

But the big push is to get commuters to use alternate routes to save room in the construction zone for tourists and others from outside the area. Transportation officials and civic leaders have been working with larger employers and the media to get the word out.

For example, westbound commuters might consider taking the Hamilton Street exit and coming into downtown on Trent Avenue and Spokane Falls Boulevard. Mission Street on the North Side is another high-capacity east-west route that could serve commuters. Sprague, Second and Third avenues also offer commuter alternatives.

Eastbound motorists coming into downtown might consider taking the Geiger Boulevard or Garden Springs exits and taking Sunset Hill into downtown rather than relying on the Maple Street off-ramp, which will remain open but likely will become crowded.

Alternate transportation – transit, bicycles, walking, car-pooling – is encouraged.

To get the word out, Downtown Spokane is teaming up with the city, River Park Square and the Spokane Convention and Visitors Bureau for an advertising and promotional campaign under the theme, “It’s still easy to get downtown.”

Money that would normally go for marketing downtown is being funneled into the dual-purpose message, said Marty Dickinson, president of Downtown Spokane Partnership, a business support organization.

Engineers and civic leaders said they will watch the traffic closely and try to make small changes to minimize problems as the project moves forward. They are also asking motorists to be patient.

“The greatest risk is to get commuters educated,” Dickinson said. “I think we still need to be as vigilant as we were last year,” she said.