Construction signs and traffic cones channel drivers left, away from a Spokane County roundabout project that recently broke ground at the intersection of Aero Road and Westbow Road near the Interstate 90 Medical Lake interchange.
If there's a sure sign of summer, it's roadway construction, and like seasonal temperatures, things are beginning to heat up near the Interstate 90 Medical Lake interchange.
Work has already begun on one of three projects slated for construction in the area that are being driven by West Plains residential and commercial growth.
One project has broken ground. Spokane County's low-bid contractor, Acme Concrete Paving, recently began work on the first of four phases of a $990,000 roundabout project at the intersection of Westbow and Aero roads on the south side of the interchange, according to Spokane County Project Engineer Jake Saxon.
The next and longest construction phase of that project will completely close the southeast half of the intersection to build an entire half of the roundabout around early to mid-June, according to Saxon. During that period, Aero and Westbow will essentially become a T-intersection approaching from Interstate 90, forcing drivers to turn right or left. Drivers who normally travel through the intersection to residential areas to the south will need to detour to get home.
"We're going to get it built as fast as we can and get in front of the WSDOT project," Saxon said, in reference to the state interchange rebuild project. "Hopefully we'll be the first ones done and out of there."
The project is expected be completed by September, weather permitting.
Meanwhile, a $14.3 million, two-year, two-phase county project will widen Geiger Boulevard to three lanes between Hayford Road and State Route 902. Geiger will likely be closed for a majority of the summer according to Matt Zarecor, assistant county engineer for Spokane County Public Works.
Phase one is expected to begin in early July, according to Saxon, and be completed in time for the opening of the 2.6 million square foot Amazon fulfillment center this fall, when its horde of 6,000-plus additional cars and trucks will begin using area arterials and the adjacent interchange.
"That project has a lot of moving parts," Saxon said, referring to federal Build Grant funding and the number of partners and stockholders involved in the project, including WSDOT, Spokane Transit Authority, the City of Spokane and the West Plains/Airport Area Public Development Authority.
The intersection of Hayford Road and Geiger is also slated for improvements as part of the Geiger project. The county is adding a traffic signal system and turn lanes, according to Saxon, who will be overseeing the project for the county as well.
But the main event, and the project that will have the most impact on drivers, is reconstruction of the Medical Lake interchange by the Washington State Department of Transportation. That project is expected to kick off by the end of June, according to Project Engineer Mark Allen.
While interchange construction has yet to begin, related pre-construction utility work has already caused minor disruptions.
Hayford Road between SR 902 it's intersection with Geiger Boulevard was recently closed to accommodate work on a 36-inch City of Spokane water main, while Avista and various telecommunication companies have been relocating their underground utilities away from the interchanges roundabout footprint in advance of actual construction.
Spokane Valley's N.A. Degerstrom, Inc. was recently awarded the interchange project with a low bid of $9.7 million. Seven other bids ranged from $10.5 million to $11.9 million, according to Washington State Department of Transportation bid documents.
While the goal is to minimize construction impacts to commuters during the project, some short-term disruptions can't be avoided, according to Allen.
Drivers can expect a one-day closure of the eastbound Interstate 90 on-ramp to accommodate some ramp reconstruction, and a one to two-day detour of Hayford and SR 902 for a pipe replacement. No long-term closures are anticipated, Allen said.
"Not to say there won't backups," he said. "But we'll try to keep things flowing as best we can."
Information on the WSDOT project can be found at http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/i90/medical-lake/home.
Information on Spokane County project is available at http://www.spokanecounty.org/805/Projects.
Lee Hughes can be reached at [email protected].
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