Concrete work to begin at Sullivan and Indiana

Drivers who routinely go through the Sullivan Road and Indiana Avenue intersection may want to find an alternate route.

The intersection is being rebuilt with concrete starting Monday, and traffic through the intersection will be extremely limited for six weeks.

There will be one lane of northbound traffic and one lane of southbound traffic at all times. Depending on which of the three phases the construction is in, traffic will be limited which direction it will be able to turn.

In the first phase, the entire west side of the intersection will be shut down, including Indiana to the west of Sullivan Road. Traffic heading south on Sullivan will not be able to turn in any direction and northbound traffic will not be able to turn west.

In phase two, the southeast corner of Sullivan will be closed and Indiana east of Sullivan will be down to one lane going west only. Traffic in that westbound lane will only be able to go north on Sullivan. Southbound traffic on Sullivan can go west on Indiana, but not east. Northbound traffic will not be able to turn at all.

In the final phase, the northeast corner of Sullivan will be shut down. Plans originally called for westbound traffic only on Indiana to the east of Sullivan, said senior engineer Steve Worley. “We are moving the staging area for the contractor off of Indiana Avenue and onto private property during phase two,” he said. “What that allows us to do is allow two-way traffic, both east and west, on Indiana sooner than we originally anticipated. It’s not a huge difference, but it’s an improvement.”

During construction, if someone is east of Sullivan on Indiana and wants to turn south on Sullivan, they will have to take a left turn before the intersection and proceed as if they’re going onto Interstate 90, said Worley. There will be signs in place to direct motorists.

People will almost always be able to head east on Indiana if they are heading north on Sullivan. “You will always be able to make a right turn except in phase two,” Worley said. “For that two weeks, the best way in is from westbound I-90. That ramp off of I-90 will always be open.”

In a week or so motorists will also have the option of using the new Indiana Avenue extension to access businesses on Indiana east of Sullivan. Indiana was extended east to the Mission and Flora intersection, where a new roundabout has been installed. The couplet is called Indiana Parkway for eastbound traffic and Mission Parkway for westbound traffic.

That project was supposed to be finished by now, but was slowed by wet weather during the grading phase, Worley said. “It has taken the contractor longer than anticipated,” he said. “When we had all those rains, it saturated the soil and didn’t allow them to work on it. We had to wait for it to dry out.”

The extension project is almost complete, with just some concrete work and some landscaping remaining. “They’re putting in sidewalks right now,” he said.

During construction, people who want to go to the Spokane Valley Mall should avoid the Sullivan and Indiana intersection, Worley said. “We would encourage people to use Evergreen.”