Getting There: State Route 904 section to be repaved

Highway construction has descended on western Spokane County this month with a series of repaving projects getting underway.

The busy section of state Route 904 from Betz Road in Cheney to the Four Lakes interchange with Interstate 90 will undergo resurfacing starting today.

The contractor on the $1.2 million job is planning to close parts of the Four Lakes interchange at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights so that the old pavement can be removed. Tuesday night, the westbound off-ramp will be closed. Wednesday night, the westbound on-ramp and eastbound off-ramp will be closed. And Thursday night, the eastbound on-ramp will be closed.

Those sections of the interchange will reopen at 6 a.m. the following mornings.

During the closures, traffic will be detoured onto the Medical Lake interchange, Hayford Road and Melville Road.

The work of grinding out the old pavement is planned for hours from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., which will result in traffic restrictions.

State transportation officials said drivers should expect delays during those hours.

Single-lane and alternating traffic is planned during the work. Pilot cars may be used to move traffic through the construction area.

Inland Asphalt Co., of Spokane, is the contractor on the job.

To the southwest of Four Lakes, the state has hired Inland Asphalt for a major resurfacing project on I-90 from Salnave Road to the Lincoln County line.

The $4.9 million job has resulted in temporary interchange closures while the contractor grinds out existing pavement to prepare it for resurfacing.

Speed limits are 60 mph in the construction zone, reduced from 70 mph.

Last week, Washington State Patrol troopers were in the area enforcing the reduced construction speed limit.

The state Department of Transportation said the Tyler interchange will close tonight at 5 p.m. and will reopen at 5 a.m.

Most of the repaving work will occur during those same hours.

Drivers should expect rough pavement conditions after the surface is ground down and before it is repaved. Motorcycle riders will need to use extra caution during the project.

The other big repaving project in the area involves U.S. Highway 2 from I-90 to Espanola Road west of Fairchild Air Force Base.

Work has started on installation of a new traffic light at Flint Road during evening and early morning hours. The repaving work has yet to get started.

Francis Avenue work continuing

The Francis Avenue corridor in north Spokane is seeing its share of construction this season in a pair of major projects.

The state is rebuilding the intersections on Francis at Market and Freya streets as part of the North Spokane Corridor project.

Construction workers this week will be removing a temporary traffic light at Freya to prepare for switching on the permanent new traffic signal. That part of the job will be done during evening and overnight hours and will require flaggers to direct traffic.

To the west, the city of Spokane is continuing work on rebuilding Francis from Division to Crestline streets.

Country Homes work slowing traffic

Also in north Spokane, drivers are running into traffic restrictions and backups as the result of a stormwater construction project on Country Homes Boulevard from Cedar Road to Wall Street.

The southbound lane was closed last week while the northbound lane was pushed to the right-hand side of the pavement to make room for construction. The southbound closure is expected to continue.

The old concrete causeway has been removed and is being replaced with a more modern stormwater design intended to allow some of the water to filtrate back into the ground through new “rain gardens.”

Pipe is also being buried beneath the rain gardens to carry excess runoff. Some of the stormwater originates from the Five Mile bluff to the west.

The $2.3 million project is being funded by a state Ecology Department grant and Spokane County stormwater funds.

Work is expected to continue until November.

Grand Boulevard repairs, upgrades

Elsewhere in Spokane, a pavement maintenance project gets underway today on Grand Boulevard. Some rutted or broken sections will be repaved. Other parts of the street will have crack sealing. Curb ramps will be upgraded along with other curb and sidewalk work.

On North Monroe Street, repaving work is just about finished.

Repaving work will move to Freya Street from 41st Avenue to Palouse Highway this week. Northbound traffic will have to use Regal Street.

Valley projects making progress

In Spokane Valley, repaving work continues on Sprague Avenue from Havana to I-90. The intersection of Sprague and Fancher Way will close at 9 p.m. Tuesday for overnight work. Other nighttime closures will occur this week in that vicinity.

Adams Road from Fourth to Sprague avenues remains closed through the end of the month for utility work and resurfacing.

Sullivan Road will have only one northbound lane open from Kiernan to Trent avenues on Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. for pavement repair.

A state project to repair pavement on Trent from Havana to Sullivan roads will reduce traffic to one lane in each direction from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Thursday.

Argonne Road from Broadway to Sprague avenues has only one southbound lane open due to water line installation.

Sewer work has closed streets east of Barker Road and south of the Spokane River, although local traffic is allowed.

I-90 rock blasting to begin later

On I-90 east of Snoqualmie Pass, hourlong rock blasting closures on Monday through Thursday will begin at 8 p.m. Earlier this season, the closures were at 7 p.m. The blasting is being done to widen the freeway to six lanes along Keechelus Lake.

Seat belt campaign saw 286 violations

The annual Click It or Ticket campaign netted 286 seat belt violations in the region over the two-week period ending June 1.

Officers from Spokane, Whitman, Pend Oreille and Ferry counties participated in the enforcement underwritten by the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.

In addition to seat belt infractions, officers wrote up 70 drivers for illegal cellphone use, 100 for speeding, 15 for improper child protections, 77 without insurance, and 43 with suspended or revoked licenses.

Also, five drivers were arrested for impaired driving, one for a felony and three on misdemeanor warrants.

Statewide, officers issued 2,963 seat belt tickets for the 11,666 drivers who were stopped. They also wrote up 1,897 cellphone violations across the state.

Summer Parkways is this Wednesday

The Summer Parkways pedestrian and bicycle event will be Wednesday from 6 to 9 p.m. in the vicinity of Manito and Comstock parks.

Streets will be partially blocked off to allow for what amounts to a rolling neighborhood party. Police will provide protection at arterials. Drivers can still access their homes during the event.