Getting There: Spokane International Airport gets $23 million grant for Airport Drive overpass

The Spokane International Airport  is set to build a new overpass interchange above Airport Drive, thanks to a $23 million transportation grant from the federal government.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers announced Thursday the Department of Transportation grant was approved as part of the federal Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant program.

The Airport Drive overpass will include interchanges for inbound and outbound airport traffic. Spotted Road will be rerouted in the construction project.

Safety and accessibility for airport and nearby business traffic will improve with the project, McMorris Rodgers wrote in a letter addressed to the Department of Transportation dated Feb. 13. The construction proposal also stated the interchange would reduce idling traffic and increase airport accessibility for residents of Airway Heights.

“This grant was years in the making and will have a tremendous impact on Eastern Washington communities,” McMorris Rodgers said in an announcement Thursday.

Currently, Spotted Road is located about 1,200 feet away from the airport’s Runway Protection Zone, an area mandated by federal policy to protect people and property on the ground in case of a landing beyond a runway. The project is set to move Spotted Road farther away, in compliance with Federal Aviation Administration safety regulations. Moving the road will substantially lower the risk of accidents and plane signal interruption.

Since 2009, there have been 116 reported crashes at the intersections of Spotted Road and Airport Drive, according to the Spokane airport. The crashes resulted in two deaths. Seventy-five others sustained injuries in the crashes.

Another 41 crashes were reported at the intersections between the years of 2002 and 2008, according to a 2015 traffic study.

“These problems persist despite the installation of additional traffic safety measures and are assumed to worsen as traffic volumes increase,” airport officials wrote in the grant proposal. “In addition, vehicles on Spotted Road approaching the intersections experience significant delays while waiting for the gap on Airport Drive to cross, which further results in vehicle fuel costs and increased emissions due to idling.”

Spotted Road runs north-south and begins at U.S. 2, north of Airport Drive, then continues south to connect industrial businesses between Airport Drive and Flightline Boulevard. About 2,600 vehicles drive on the road every day.

Airport Drive runs east-west for 5 miles and serves as the main access point for inbound and outbound airport traffic. It connects drivers to I-90. About 16,500 vehicles pass over the road every day.

Daily traffic numbers on Spotted Road and Airport Drive are expected to increase in the thousands over the next 10 years, and traffic engineers have long considered the four-way intersection of the two roads to be dangerous.

Lower-speed traffic on Spotted Road trying to cross higher-speed traffic on Airport Drive is one of the main causes of crashes in the intersection. Airport officials determined stop signs are not enough to maintain safe traffic flow.

Spokane City Council President Breean Beggs said the grant to reconstruct the airport intersection was “fantastic news.”

“A big credit to the airport staff for putting together a quality proposal,” Beggs said. “We have a lot to be grateful for from our Congressional delegation: Senators Cantwell and Murray and Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers.”

The council president was unsure when construction on the airport project would begin, saying to his knowledge the project hadn’t been out for bid as of Friday.

Beggs added the construction project was one of the largest Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grants announced this year in the state.

Nearly $133 in grant money went to projects across Washington – the most received by any state in 2023.

Work to watch for

North Spokane Corridor work has closed access to Spokane Community College from Augusta Avenue, and from Greene Street between Baldwin and Indiana avenues. Those wishing to get to the school should use Greene Street at Ermina Avenue, or use entrances off Mission Avenue.

City street crews will begin paving a section of 44th Avenue between Napa and Crestline streets on Monday.

The east curb lane of Washington Street between Riverside and Main avenues will close Monday through Thursday for underground utility work.

Frederick Avenue will close Wednesday through Aug. 8 from Havana Street to Dearborn Avenue for right of way work.