A major construction project on East Sprague Avenue will be postponed until 2021.

Given the project’s potential disruptions to already-hurting businesses and the challenge of meeting construction deadlines in a coronavirus economy, the city opted Monday to push the final phase of construction on East Sprague into next year.

This summer’s planned $3.6 million rebuild of East Sprague between Division and Grant streetsis the final phase of a yearslong renovation and redesign to the arterial.

This phase of the project will include a full rebuild of the street, upgrades to utilities and improvements for bicycle and pedestrian safety.

In total, the city will have invested more than $17 million in East Sprague over multiple phases when the project is completed.

As the social distancing measures taken to stop the spread of coronavirus impact businesses, the city was hesitant to carry out a project this year that would further hamper their ability to operate, city spokeswoman Marlene Feist told The Spokesman-Review last month.

Furthermore, squeezing the project into a single construction season was expected to be a challenge.

The city, and the businesses it reached out to, were concerned about stretching the project across two seasons.

The Spokane City Council was set to select a winning bidder Monday, but agreed to remove the matter from its agenda and wait until next year.

Aside from the work on East Sprague, city officials have said they plan to move ahead with the construction season as planned, to the extent possible.