Snow Gate Pilot Program is Successful
$26.6 Million Construction Season for 2019
SPOKANE COUNTY, February 1, 2019 – Spokane County Commissioners Josh Kerns and Mary Kuney joined County Engineer Chad Coles today to announce the results of a pilot program for snow gates and highlight several construction projects that will begin later this spring. Commissioner Kerns said two snow gates that were installed on graders worked well in the test neighborhoods. “We received very positive feedback from residents who were delighted that they didn’t have to shovel an icy berm out of their driveway. And – since this has been a mild winter, we plan to use the money we’ve saved in plowing to purchase additional snow gates for next winter,” Kerns said.
With a $26.6 million construction season fast approaching, Commissioner Mary Kuney began with a round-about that will be constructed at Glenrose and Carnahan. “This is a safety project to slow down the traffic and improve the flow from one road to another. Work will begin in April and take approximately three months to complete. Any disruption to traffic will be relatively minor and we ask for the public to be patient,” Kuney said.
County Engineer Chad Coles highlighted other projects that included pavement replacement at two heavily-traveled corridors: Hawthorne from Nevada to Parksmith and Country Homes from Cedar to Wall Street. The work will begin in May or June and take about three weeks to complete.
Coles also announced the next phase of the Bigelow Gulch-Forker Road Corridor. Phase 4 focuses on a three-mile stretch of Bigelow Gulch from Argonne Road to the Bigelow-Forker Interchange. The $9.7 million project will periodically require flaggers and detours during the six months of construction.
The largest project that Public Works will begin this year is on the West Plains. The Geiger Boulevard Project will break ground this spring – thanks to the $16.1 million
BUILD Transportation Grant the county was awarded in 2018 – and almost $29 million from our funding partners: Washington State Department of Transportation, City of Spokane, West Plains/Airport Area Public Development Authority, and Spokane Transit Authority.
“This project is designed to accommodate the significant industrial, commercial and residential development that is taking place on the West Plains – growth that will continue to accelerate during the next few years,” Coles said. He added, “The Geiger Boulevard improvements will support more than 32-hundred new jobs and almost 14-hundred new residents.”
Quick Fact: There are more than 400 acres of undeveloped industrial/commercial land along Geiger Boulevard. This could accommodate six more Amazon Distribution Center sized developments!
When the construction season begins in late March/early April, Spokane County Public Works will update projects, traffic restrictions and possible delays on the website at www.spokanecounty.org/publicworks.
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