Commissioners Highlight Winter Operations and 2020 Road Construction Season
SPOKANE COUNTY, December, 2019 – The Spokane County Commissioners joined County Engineer Chad Coles today to highlight the county’s snow removal procedures, along with the major road construction and maintenance projects of 2019 and 2020.
With Thursday’s snow fresh in everyone’s mind, District 1 Commissioner Josh Kerns explained how the largest county road system handles wintry weather. “Public Works is responsible for more than 5,000 lane miles of road. Their first priorities are emergency routes and primary arterials. Then they move on to secondary arterials and residential neighborhoods,” Kern said. He added, “Last year, the Snow Gate pilot program was successful and the department purchased an additional six gates to keep snow out of driveways.”
Notable projects completed during the 2019 construction season, highlighted included the Glenrose-Carnahan roundabout and safety improvements on 57th Ave. Work also continued on a three-mile stretch of Bigelow Gulch Road that was straightened, leveled, widened, and included storm water improvements. The project took four months to complete and cost $5.9 million.
One of the largest and most significant projects was Phase 1 of improvements to Geiger Blvd. District 3 Commissioner Al French extolled the project for its impact on development in the West Plains. “We broke ground this spring, thanks to a $16.1 Million BUILD Transportation Grant and almost $29 Million from the project partners (Spokane County, City of Spokane, Spokane International Airport, the West Plains/Airport Area Public Development Authority, Spokane Transit, Washington State Dept. of Transportation, and Spokane Regional Transportation Council.) The importance of this project to the region cannot be overstated. It is a critical piece of infrastructure that will accommodate the industrial, commercial and residential development that will continue for years to come and bring thousands of family-wage jobs into the area,” French said.
Major Projects in 2020
For 2020, Public Works has a construction and maintenance budget of $45.2 Million. County Engineer Chad Coles highlighted several projects scheduled for next year:
- Phase 2 of Geiger Blvd (east of the Amazon Distribution Center to the Geiger-Grove Rd. Interchange).
- Phase 5 of Bigelow Gulch-Forker Road Corridor (Interchange to Progress Rd.)
- Railroad projects: Brooks Rd, Espanola Rd., and Wellesley Ave., we will install new railroad gates, replace existing barriers and update signage. These are major public safety improvements and have received almost $2.5 Million in Federal grant funding.
- Bridge Projects: From replacing Frideger Rd. Bridge to major rehabilitation work on Idaho Rd. Bridge.
- Sidewalk/ADA: We are continuing to construct sidewalks that are ADA compliant to increase pedestrian safety. For example, we have seven planned on West Terrace between the communities of Four Lakes and Marshall.
- Asphalt Preservation in Belle Terre, Columbia Drive and Mill Road.
- Gravel Road Stabilization
- Additional 19 locations totaling almost 28 miles of treated gravel roads.
When the construction season begins in late March/early April, Spokane County Public Works will update projects, traffic restrictions and possible delays on our website at www.spokanecounty.org/publicworks.
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