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The original item was published from 10/30/2018 1:50:50 PM to 12/2/2018 12:00:13 AM.

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Public Works

Posted on: October 30, 2018

[ARCHIVED] County and State officials celebrate opening of Bigelow/Forker Interchange


The project began in 2005, and has been completed in stages, with the Interchange at Bigelow and Forker being the most recent. The entire transportation corridor is scheduled for completion by the end of 2022. 

Spokane County Engineer Chad Coles commented on the necessity of the project, given the increase in both passenger and freight traffic and projections that traffic volume will continue to grow. “It bears repeating that safety is critical to public transportation....this is a public safety project.  Since the late 90s, this corridor has seen hundreds of crashes resulting in property damage, injuries…and sadly, several fatalities.  The old, narrow roadway was never designed for the current volume of traffic – and our projections indicated would continue to increase in the years to come,” Coles said.  
 
Two more phases of the corridor are scheduled for 2019: the stretch of Bigelow Gulch between the interchange and Argonne, and the realignment of Forker Road to Sullivan in the Spokane Valley.  The entire corridor from (Francis and Market to Forker Rd.) will be completed in 2022.

Project Background

Beginning in 1997, Spokane County saw daily traffic increasing on Bigelow Gulch and Forker Roads, especially truck and freight traffic.  That combination of traffic volume and truck traffic on a narrow, curvy roadway has led to a very high number of accidents, some of them fatal.  To make Bigelow Gulch safer and reduce traffic congestion, Spokane County proposed a phased plan to widen and improve the roadway and, when finished, complete the corridor from north Spokane to Spokane Valley. The project will straighten and widen both the existing Bigelow Gulch Road and Forker Road to meet the objectives of improved safety, reduced traffic congestion, and to support state and regional freight mobility initiatives.    

These improvements are referred to as the “Bigelow Gulch/Forker Urban Connector Project”. Funding for the project has been provided in part by the U.S. Department of Transportation-Federal Highway Administration, Washington State Department of Transportation, Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board, and the County Road Administration Board.

For more information, go to www.spokanecounty.org/2724/Bigelow-GulchForker-Rd-Urban-Connector.

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