Then and Now: Sullivan Road Bridge

Mon., Oct. 20, 2025

1951: The Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce formally dedicated the new Sullivan Road Bridge connecting the corridors of Sprague Avenue and Trent Road. The photo looks northwestward toward the Trentwood aluminum rolling mill and the naval supply depot. The bridge and other improvements to the north-south arterial eased commuter congestion and improved access through the fast-growing Spokane Valley. (Spokesman-Review Photo Archives)

By Jesse Tinsley jesset@spokesman.com (509) 459-5378

Getting roadways across rivers and railroads was always a challenge in Spokane. As residents spread through Spokane Valley, north-south arterials became critical.

One of those arterials was Sullivan Road, named after early Spokane Valley settler John P. Sullivan, who was born in 1846 in County Cork, Ireland. He came to the United States in 1860 and reached Spokane in 1884 at the age of 38. Sullivan’s homestead was bounded, in part, by Sullivan Road to the west, Sprague Avenue to the south and the stagecoach road to the north, near today’s Interstate 90.

Sullivan died in 1930 at the age of 84.

It was just after World War II when Spokane County Engineer C.J. Chaffins said it was important to connect Appleway, later renamed Sprague Avenue, to the Trent Avenue corridor because of the large workforce commuting daily to the Velox Naval Depot and the Trentwood aluminum rolling mill nearby. Discussions of the bridge and of widening Sullivan from Broadway Avenue to Trent continued for more than five years before construction began in 1950. Even before the bridge was completed, news of the bridge was featured in many real estate ads touting access to and from nearby homes.

A wet spring of 1951 slowed construction as the high water pounded the first poured footings.

The Sullivan Road bridge finally opened in November 1951. Over the next several years, volunteers from women’s groups and garden clubs worked on land at the north end of the bridge which became Sullivan Park.

In 1955, Spokane County planners cleared the way for a large sand and gravel pit northeast of the bridge, now operated by Central Pre-Mix.

Sullivan Road would eventually gain two additional bridges that would span railroad tracks near Trent and over I-90.

Construction was started in 1972 for a new bridge next to the 1951 span to double the lane capacity. The earlier bridge was also refurbished and modernized. Both bridges opened in 1973.

Sixty years of wear and tear on the older bridge prompted Spokane Valley officials to place weight restrictions for trucks on the bridge in 2011 and plans were laid for a replacement. A new bridge opened in January 2017.