The Washington State Department of Transportation wants you to know that work starts on April 4 to smooth five miles of deeply-rutted Interstate 90 west of downtown Spokane. Get ready for slow traffic, congestion and delays between Geiger Boulevard and the downtown Spokane freeway viaduct.
The lanes will be ground down 1 ½ inches to remove the ruts, several hundred concrete sections that are cracked and broken will be repaired, and the Latah Creek Bridge repaved.
The damage to be repaired is blamed on a high volume of traffic and studded tires over the years.
Traffic will be reduced to two lanes in each direction during daytime hours for most of the project. During evening and overnight hours, there may be times when I-90 is limited to one lane. In addition, eastbound I-90 will be reduced to one lane when work is under way on the Abbott Road Bridge near the top of the Sunset Hill.
The legal speed limit will be reduced for the duration of the project to help ease congestion and improve safety.
Construction should take about 36 weeks to complete, with the project probably suspended over the winter and completed in 2012.