Getting There: South Hill neighbors celebrate arterial reopening

South Side drivers in Spokane breathed a sigh of relief late last week with the reopening of an important arterial route along High Drive, 43rd Avenue and Hatch Road.

The project completion was considered so significant that city officials joined a reopening celebration and fundraiser that drew more than 100 people to Rocket Market at 726 E. 43rd Ave. on Thursday evening.

Halme Construction Inc., of Spokane County, undertook the $3.5 million project to install a large underground storage tank for stormwater. The job included connecting pipe, an interceptor inlet vault, flushing systems and controls at 43rd Avenue and Garfield Street.

But construction required a complete street closure.

The work was part of the city’s $300 million effort to control stormwater and prevent raw sewage from going into the Spokane River during large runoff periods.

Stormwater work is underway at numerous locations across the city, causing traffic restrictions and street closures like the one outside Rocket Market.

Julie Happy, spokeswoman for the city, said the closure forced delivery trucks to detour to get to businesses along 57th Avenue. Rocket Market customers had to go out of their way to get to the store.

Mayor David Condon used the occasion to brief the crowd Thursday on the city’s work. Condon handed out two “mayor coins” to acknowledge the work of Jason Halme and one of his lead workers, Dwight Heidegger, in getting the project done on time and within budget, and working with the neighborhood during the closure.

Rocket Market set up a beer garden and offered wine tastings and food donated by producers in a fundraiser for wildfire victims. The event raised $5,500 for fire relief, Rocket Market said on its Facebook page.

Happy said the crowd included a lot of runners and pedestrians – people who used their feet for transportation.

To the west, paving is getting started on High Drive between Bernard Street and Grand Boulevard. High Drive was redesigned and rebuilt in two stages starting last year. That job has included stormwater facilities, too.

New projects

Elsewhere in the city, several new projects get underway this week.

They are on Erie Street from First Avenue to the rail overpass for paving; Front Avenue from Erie to Helena streets for sewer repair; and First Avenue from Helena to Altamont streets for paving and curb ramps.

Traffic has been backing up for several days now on the Ray Street hill from 17th Avenue south to 29th Avenue.

The city is repairing pavement and improving the sidewalks at a cost of $687,000.

A project to rehabilitate Monroe and Lincoln streets from Second to Fourth avenues appears to have stalled at times.

City officials said the work also includes sections of street along the Interstate 90 viaduct and in the vicinity of Cedar Street. So if workers are gone from Monroe and Lincoln, that means they have moved to the other portions of the job.

Officials said the crews will be back to spread gravel and then a new asphalt surface.

Comment invited on pedestrian plan

The public is invited to review and comment on a draft pedestrian master plan moving forward this month.

The open house will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Chase Gallery on the lower level of City Hall.

The Spokane Plan Commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the plan at 2 p.m. Sept. 23 in the council chambers. City staff will be available to answer questions there from 1 to 2 p.m.

The plan establishes policies and goals for sidewalks, street designs, trails, transit facilities and connections to transit. The plan is in tandem with national pedestrian guidelines and calls for “best practices” to enhance the pedestrian experience.

Highway projects

On Interstate 90, the westbound on- and off-ramps at the Medical Lake interchange will be undergoing pavement repair today starting at 9 a.m. until about 3 p.m. The ramps will remain open, but flaggers may be directing traffic through the work zones, so delays are possible.

Elsewhere on highways, overnight paving work continues on Trent Avenue and Sullivan Road to the Idaho state line from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Pilot cars will direct alternating lines of traffic.

The project on U.S. Highway 195 from I-90 to Excelsior Road continues to repair and replace concrete pavement panels. The temporary speed limit is 45 mph.

Traveling west

Rock blasting work for the widening project on I-90 east of Snoqualmie Pass will result in hourlong freeway closures at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday.

Closer to Cle Elum, pavement work will result in lane closures. Also, the ramp that serves traffic to and from Wenatchee near Cle Elum is closed through Oct. 8.

Painting on the I-90 bridge over the Columbia River at Vantage is causing a lane closure for eastbound traffic.