Getting There: Maple Street Bridge to close during summer construction, city plans for detours

With construction on the Maple Street Bridge slated to begin this summer, commuters should plan for detours around one of Spokane’s busiest river crossings.

Pending approval from the Washington Department of Transportation and the city’s selection of a contractor, construction will likely begin in July and last approximately three months.

The project will require the bridge to be closed as well as partial lane closures.

A couple weeks ago, police closed the Maple Street Bridge in the middle of the day because of a person in distress on the bridge. The unexpected closure caused long backups through much of central Spokane as Maple Street Bridge traffic diverted to other crossings. Officers successfully assisted the person from the bridge, but the episode showed how important the bridge is to a smooth flow of traffic.

The project is expected to cost $3.5 million.

According to data from 2019, Maple Street Bridge ferries 45,000 cars a day over the Spokane River, surpassed only by the Division Street Bridge’s 48,000. That’s 45,000 vehicles that will need to find an alternate route to cross the river during the bridge’s closure.

“We call it the workhorse,” said Kirstin Davis, city of Spokane public works communications manager.

“It’s not going to be pretty, but the good thing is when we do this kind of work it only closes for about three months rather than like the Post Street Bridge, which is a three-year closure,” Davis said.

When it was open, however, Post Street only carried about 2,100 cars a day, according to the same 2019 data.

Built in 1958, the Maple Street Bridge is getting regular maintenance to the joints, where the bridge’s panels connect, as well as grinding and overlay to the bridge’s deck.

The bridge will close at night during the process of grinding the existing concrete. When crews overlay new concrete, the bridge will be totally closed, said city spokesman Brian Coddington.

Work on the southern end of the bridge will require closure, since the northbound and southbound lanes don’t connect, Davis said.

Detours won’t be finalized until the city selects a contractor, which Coddington said could happen in the next couple weeks.

The contractor is also responsible for evaluating how closures and detours will affect traffic in the area.

There are limited options for other ways to cross the river. Alternate routes are all upriver from Maple Street Bridge: Monroe, Washington and Division bridges are all candidates. Current closures on Post Street Bridge will remain in effect until the project is finished, likely by the end of this year, Davis said.

While traveling south on Northwest Boulevard, drivers will be encouraged to take other routes.

Boone Street will be southbound drivers’ final opportunity to detour to a different bridge.

I-90 will also see delays during peak hours, Coddington said. The city and WSDOT will use readerboards and erect signage on the freeway directing traffic away from affected exits.

Driving through downtown will send motorists through existing construction projects that have closed lanes, but Coddington said projects won’t overlap, unless contractors encounter unexpected snags.

“The goal is to have all construction going north-south completed before getting started on Maple,” Coddington said.

Work to watch for

Lanes will be closed on Northwest Boulevard between Alberta and Belt streets on Monday and Tuesday for work on a $7.2 million stormwater project.

A block party will close 25th Avenue between Napa and Crestline streets on Friday from 5 -8 p.m.