Portion of South Barker Road in Spokane Valley will be closed until June

A construction project to widen Barker Road in Spokane Valley will keep around a thousand feet of South Barker Road closed for three months.

Construction on the road from Sprague and Appleway avenues began on Monday. The project’s purpose is to alleviate congestion on the road, according to Spokane Valley Capital Improvement Projects Engineering Manager Rob Lochmiller.

“It’s a straightforward project,” Lochmiller said. “We’re just widening the road from two lanes to three and making bike lanes along the roadway.” The project also includes new sidewalks.

This 1,000 feet of the project will cost around $2.4 million, which is covered by federal and state grants, Lochmiller said.

There is a Starbucks and a post office that could be impacted by the 10-week long construction, but Lochmiller says the businesses have had plenty of notice about the project before construction began earlier this week.

Construction is set to be finished by June.

The city anticipates the entire project, which spans about 2 miles, will cost $87 million – it is unclear how much of that money will be funded through grants obtained by the city. The whole project will be completed over the course of several years, Lochmiller said.

The project is split into six sections along Barker Road from Mission Avenue to Eighth Avenue.

Construction from Sprague to Eighth Avenue, which will widen the road to three lanes and add bike lanes and sidewalks, will be four months long, Lochmiller said. That portion of the project is anticipated to cost the city $10.2 million and will likely begin construction next year.

The Sprague and Barker intersection roundabout, which is a part of the project, was completed in 2023 and cost $2.7 million.

The city is working to widen the road from Interstate 90 to Appleway Avenue to two lanes in both directions with sidewalks but that part of the project is in preliminary design and estimated to cost $14.2 million. The other two parts of the project are between Mission Avenue to I-90 and the freeway’s Barker interchange, which would include a new four-lane bridge over I-90.

Neither of those projects have been started yet because more funding is needed for its design.