The City of Spokane has authorized changes to the East Sprague construction project to accelerate its completion. With the changes, the City anticipates that the project now will be complete by late August, instead of late September.
To achieve the time savings, the second phase of work, which was scheduled to begin in late June, will start Monday, May 22. That section runs from just west of Napa to just west of Helena. The local access detour routes around the construction area, on First & Riverside avenues, will be expanded about four more blocks to the west, from Perry Street to Altamont.
The project to rehabilitate East Sprague from Helena to Stone streets began on April 3. The project includes an enhanced streetscape, new pedestrian lighting and landscaping, bumpouts at intersections that reduce crossing distances, updated water infrastructure, and new pavement.
The project was developed using a new construction scheduling approach. Contractor, L&L Cargile, was to close four of the eight-block construction areas on Sprague at a time, complete all the work within the section, and then move to the other half.
With the change, the City will move up the start of the second phase, and construction on the first phase will continue. That first phase runs from just west of Napa to almost Altamont and is expected to be completed just after the Fourth of July.