Date:  Monday, April 20, 2009

Contact: Al Gilson, Communications Manager
WSDOT Eastern Region
2714 N. Mayfair
Spokane, WA  99207
(509)324-6015
gilsona@wsdot.wa.gov

SPOKANE – A major phase of North Spokane Corridor freeway construction has resumed after a winter break and work will ramp up shortly.

This project will lower the existing US 2 between Farwell Rd and Deadman Creek to provide the clearance needed for the highway to pass under the North Spokane Corridor freeway.

As the project gains momentum, motorists will see a lower speed limit and extensive traffic revisions. Beginning on Monday, April 27th, the legal speed limit in this section will be reduced to 45 miles per hour. Also, southbound US 2 (the Newport Highway) will be reduced to one lane 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This southbound traffic restriction begins south of the SR 206 intersection and ends in the vicinity of the Shady Slope Road intersection. Southbound oversized loads larger than 10 feet wide will be required to follow the signed wide load detour route to Market Street beginning at the US 2/SR 206 intersection and ending at the US 2/Hawthorne Road intersection. This traffic configuration is scheduled to remain through spring 2010.

"This project is going to affect drivers in their daily travels," said WSDOT Eastern Region Administrator Keith Metcalf. “Motorists, especially those using southbound US 2, may want to explore alternate routes such as Market Street as this job moves forward.”

The contractor has resumed excavation to lower the US 2 lanes and bridge construction is also underway. Contractor Graham Construction of Spokane and their subcontractors are making good progress after the long winter.

Over 450 jobs are supported by this $43 million construction project, which completes the North Spokane Corridor/US 2/Shady Slope Road Interchange. The project broke ground in late fall 2008 and is about six percent complete. Completion is scheduled for 2011.

The project includes construction of six bridges, totaling more than 77,000 square feet of deck surface, plus multiple retaining walls along US 2. The longest bridge to be built, the structure taking traffic from southbound US 2 to southbound US 395, is 980 feet in length. Another component of the job is the new, wildlife-friendly, arch culvert for Deadman Creek underneath US 2.

Project information is available online at:
http://www.nscfreeway.com/ and www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/US395/NorthSpokaneCorridor/US2Lowering

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