Highway Project Will Tie Up I-90

Motorists will be slowing down again this year on Interstate 90 between downtown Spokane and the Medical Lake interchange.

Work begins Monday on the second year of a two-year resurfacing project on the freeway west of downtown.

The resurfacing will be on the eastbound lanes. Last year, the westbound lanes were resurfaced.

There will be only one eastbound lane open during construction and access will be severely limited.

Eastbound exits at Medical Lake and Division Street will stay open and be used for detour routes.

The westbound lanes will be reduced from three to two lanes, but all exits and on-ramps will remain open.

These traffic changes will be in effect until mid-August when the contractor is expected to change the detour routes to finish the job. Completion is expected in October.

Kiewit Pacific Co., the contractor, will demolish the existing roadway and replace it with a concrete surface over its five-mile length.

The single eastbound lane that will remain open can be used by motorists going through Spokane, heading south on U.S. Highway 195 or exiting at Division Street.

For other eastbound motorists, the state Transportation Department recommends these detour routes:

Motorists going to Airway Heights, Fairchild Air Force Base, Spokane International Airport and U.S. Highway 2 should take the Medical Lake interchange and then follow Hayford Road to the airport or U.S. Highway 2.

Those heading to the Sunset Hill, Maple Street, Monroe Street or other points on the west side of the city should take the Medical Lake exit and Geiger Boulevard, which leads down Sunset Boulevard into the city.

Access to the southbound on-ramp of U.S. Highway 195, the Pullman highway, will be limited to motorists coming down the I-90 Sunset Hill from U.S. Highway 2. Those motorists also will be able to use the Maple Street exit.

Other eastbound I-90 drivers planning to head south on U.S. 195 will have to exit at Division Street and double back to the interstate going west, and use the Pullman highway exit open to westbound lanes.