Date:
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Contact:
Al Gilson, Public Information Officer
(509) 324-6015
gilsona@wsdot.wa.gov
Major construction on Interstate 90 in downtown Spokane will be wrapping up over the next week, ahead of schedule and on budget.
The contractor, Degerstrom/Acme Joint Venture will begin the process of returning traffic to its normal configuration on Wednesday, August 16th. The work is expected to take about five days.
The wrap-up procedure will involve a series of tasks including restriping, barrier removal, sign work, and cleanup.
To provide for this work, temporary lane configurations will be used each night and traffic will be shifted around so the contractor can put the finishing touches on the freeway. I-90 traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction during the evening and overnight hours. Two lanes in each direction will be open during the day. The speed limit will remain 45 mph during the switchover process and will be returned to 60 mph after this season’s work is complete. Some overnight restrictions of the westbound 2nd Avenue off ramp will be needed.
The final items of work will be the resetting of the downtown street traffic signal timing and the reopening of the on and off ramps that have been closed since mid-May.
The wrap-up process is dependent on weather. Paint striping work requires dry conditions.
This phase of the project is being completed about three weeks earlier than originally planned. Good weather, efforts on the part of the contractor, and excellent cooperation by the motoring public all contributed to the success of the work.
Area drivers deserve special thanks. During the project there were no collisions inside the one mile section of narrow lanes. The only incidents were a few stalled vehicles that blocked traffic. There were only a couple of minor collisions that occurred before or after the work zone that affected traffic inside the construction area.
Beginning in May, 2007, the contractor will return to rebuild the north half of the downtown freeway. A similar traffic configuration will be put into place for that work.
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