Avista installing 8-inch gas line near Lakeland Village

If you’ve driven down State Route 902 lately you’ve probably run into a construction project on the roadside near Lakeland Village and wondered what’s going on.

That construction that has caused brief delays for motorists on SR 902 is due to the installation of an 8-inch high-pressure Avista gas main that will eventually augment an existing 4-inch line already in place between Medical Lake and Cheney, according to Avista.

“Avista has embarked on a multi-year project to add additional capacity to accommodate existing and future growth in Medical Lake and Cheney,” David Vowels, Avista communications manager said during a phone interview.

The current project is the first of three phases that will eventually see the gas line reach to within about two miles northwest of Cheney by October of 2021, according to Vowels.

This year’s work will install 30,000 feet of the steel pipe roughly parallel the existing 4-inch line.

This first of three phases of construction will parallel SR 902 and Clear Lake Road, and is expected to be complete by the end of August.

Phase two is scheduled to begin in April of next year, picking up on Clear Lake Road where this year’s effort ended. All told there will be approximately a mile of trench work along Clear Lake Road, Vowels said.

Phase two construction will end just west of Interstate 90 in October of 2020. The third and final phase will cross the freeway and continue on toward Cheney in 2021. Completion is expected in October 2021, according to Vowels.

While partial lane closures will continue along SR 902 and Clear Lake Road during construction, there are no service delays expected during to the project, Vowels said.

Avista operates 7,800 miles of natural gas transmission lines, according to it’s website.

Lee Hughes can be reached at [email protected].