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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Crew pouring concrete for Monroe Street hill

Workers with William Winkler Co. pour and finish concrete into the roadbed of the Monroe Street hill on Spokane’s South Hill, Friday, June 17, 2016. Over 1,200 cubic yards of concrete are being used to complete this phase of the project, which includes the reconstruction of the Monroe Street/Lincoln Street couplet from 8th Avenue to Main Street. (Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)
Workers with William Winkler Co. pour and finish concrete into the roadbed of the Monroe Street hill on Spokane’s South Hill, Friday, June 17, 2016. Over 1,200 cubic yards of concrete are being used to complete this phase of the project, which includes the reconstruction of the Monroe Street/Lincoln Street couplet from 8th Avenue to Main Street. (Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)Buy a print of this photo
By Mike Prager mikeprager15@gmail.com(509) 459-5454

Concrete pavement is being poured on Monroe Street from Fourth to Eighth avenues, and the work will lead to even greater traffic restrictions on the lower South Hill route starting Monday.

Monroe and Lincoln streets will be closed to through traffic between Fourth and Eight avenues so crews can build the street improvements at Eighth where the two one-way streets meet.

Crews will continue to provide access for local traffic.

The type of concrete being used will provide a stronger surface for longer life, design engineer Jonathan Adams said.

Even though the concrete is more expensive than petroleum-based asphalt pavement, the city wants a surface that will last longer in an area that serves medical facilities.

Wear from studded tire has been a long-standing problem on the Monroe Street hill.

The concrete pavement “gives it a higher strength. It should be more resistant to stud wear,” Adams said.

Concrete paving is slower to complete since the concrete needs time to cure and harden.

The closures of Monroe and Lincoln are expected to last through the end of June.

Once paving on Monroe is finished, Monroe will open to one-way traffic southbound.

Northbound traffic will have to detour to another route.

Once the section of Monroe is finished, it will reopen to traffic in a few weeks, but Lincoln will remain closed for construction.

As of Friday afternoon, concrete had been poured on the left-hand side of Monroe from Fourth to just south of Fifth.

The $4.5 million project involves reconstructing the pavement on Monroe and Lincoln from Fourth to Eighth.

The project is part of a voter-approved effort to rebuild streets along with upgrades in utilities, including water and stormwater facilities.

Local access for businesses along Monroe south of Eighth is being maintained throughout construction.

Shamrock Paving Inc., of Spokane, is the general contractor, while William Winkler Co., of Newman Lake, is a subcontractor.