Ground was “officially” broken on the Bigelow Gulch-Forker Road Interchange project this morning. The $9.4 million project is the next phase of the Bigelow-Forker Urban Corridor. It features a redesigned intersection where Bigelow Gulch and Forker Road meet. Work on it is scheduled for completion this fall.
During the groundbreaking ceremony, officials highlighted how the corridor will improve public safety and reduce crashes on Bigelow Gulch as well as having a positive impact on local on economic development.
Since 1997, traffic has been increasing on Bigelow Gulch and Forker Roads, especially truck and freight traffic. The combination of traffic volume and truck traffic on a narrow, curvy roadway has led to a high number of accidents, some of them fatal. To make Bigelow Gulch/Forker, safer, provide freight mobility, and reduce traffic congestion, Spokane County proposed a plan to widen and improve the roadway and, when finished, complete the corridor from north Spokane to the City of Spokane Valley.