Crews have reached another milestone in the years-long process of building the North Spokane Corridor.
They recently put up the girders that will support the freeway from Alki Avenue south to Sprague Avenue.
“Now folks who are using that busy arterial, who are driving, whether it's to Avista Stadium or it's Costco or Home Depot, the businesses, residents in that area, they're now going to be driving underneath the future North Spokane Corridor. So it's visible,” said Washington Department of Transportation spokesman Joe McHale.
Weather and materials permitting, crews will pour the concrete deck on that stretch of the bridge this fall and/or next spring, McHale said.
Construction of the final phase of the freeway, where it connects with Interstate 90, could begin next spring or summer. The department says the full 10.5 mile stretch, from U.S. 395 in the north to I-90 in the south, will be drivable by the early 2030s.
Decades on the drawing board
The idea for a North-South freeway, as it was originally called, has been around since the mid-20th century. The Department of Transportation dates it to the mid-1940s. The plan was to efficiently direct traffic through Spokane without drivers having to navigate city arterials. But it took decades to find the funding and the public support to get the project going.
Construction finally began in 2001 at the highway’s northern terminus, U.S. 395 at Wandermere. The first stretch was opened in 2012. The seven-mile highway intersects U.S. 2 at Farwell Road, then travels south as far as Wellesley Avenue.
Other segments in the final 3.5 mile stretch are under construction. The bridge that crosses the Spokane River is scheduled to be completed later this year or early next. That includes a pedestrian-only “Children of the Sun Trail” bridge that runs parallel to the freeway.
“Then we'll continue with what we call Stage 2 and Stage 3,” McHale said. “Those are between Sprague Avenue and the Spokane River. Stage 1, which is the section that is near Spokane Community College, is complete. Stage 2, which will include a half interchange at Trent Avenue, broke ground this summer.”
That interchange is anticipated to open sometime in 2029.
“Folks will be able to get on northbound at Trent Avenue and head north,” McHale said.
McHale said the project that carries the roadway from Alki to Sprague is part of Stage 3.
“I think that's really exciting, to see that the work that they've been doing for months — and some of these crews, years — to come to fruition,” he said. “Yeah, it certainly gives them some motivation. I think, too, just to add to that, I think it's exciting for the public to see it as well.”
The total cost of the project is expected to be a little more than $2 billion, and is fully funded.
