Washington Street bridge reopens in downtown Spokane

The Washington Street Bridge has partially reopened through Riverfront Park in downtown Spokane, with one lane open each direction.

The bridge, which has been under construction since the summer, will fully reopen next week, according to Kirstin Davis, spokeswoman for the city’s Public Works Division. Work on the bridge cost over $2.88 million.

Reopening was delayed by several weeks as repairs to the bridge joints, the spaces between the bridge segments that allow the structure to flex, required more work than initially expected, Davis noted.

While work will soon be completed on the bridge, other repairs on Washington Street south of the river will not be completed before the onset of winter weather and will need to be finished next spring. This includes repaving the top layer of the street between Spokane Falls Boulevard and Third Avenue, which was delayed by unexpected work on underground wastewater infrastructure.