The city of Spokane Valley plans to begin resurfacing busy Sprague Avenue between University and Evergreen roads in July.

Spokane Rock Products, Inc., of Spokane, is the apparent low bidder, with a bid of $2 million, for the project which was designed by Taylor Engineering Inc., of Spokane, to replace the aging surface of Sprague, says Spokane Valley spokeswoman Carolbelle Branch.

The project is one of a group of road jobs worth a total of about $5.2 million that the city of Spokane Valley has under way already or plans for this construction season. The projects include work at four busy intersections, three of which are on the part of Sprague that will be repaved. Those intersection projects are being timed so they will be completed before the Sprague resurfacing project, which will move east from University Road, reaches them, hopefully reducing traffic impacts by keeping nearby alternate routes open, says Hal West, a city of Spokane Valley project manager.

Some lane closures will occur during that project, but the busy arterial will remain open to traffic. Between now and when that project is completed in mid-September, separate projects on three major intersections along the route—at Pines, McDonald, and Evergreen roads—will be done.

Acme Concrete Paving Inc., of Spokane, recently began a project to replace the asphalt at the intersection of Sprague and Pines with a concrete intersection, under a $634,000 contract, Branch says. Concrete intersections last longer and handle heavy vehicles better, the city says. Lane closures will occur during that project, but the intersection will remain open. That project should be completed by the end of June, she says.

A project, estimated to cost about $1 million, to replace the McDonald-Sprague intersection with concrete, is scheduled to begin in mid-June and last through mid-July. The city also is seeking bids to replace asphalt at the intersection of Evergreen and Sprague with concrete in a project that's estimated to cost about $1 million and is slated for construction beginning in late July, with completion expected in mid-September. Both of those projects will involve periodic closures for northbound and southbound traffic.

Currently, Cameron Reilly LLC, of Airway Heights, is working on a fourth Spokane Valley project, in a $562,000 contract to install a concrete intersection at Broadway Avenue and Fancher Road. That work began last month and is expected to be completed this month. Westbound traffic on Broadway is being detoured north on Lake Road and then west on Desmet Avenue back to Fancher, while eastbound Broadway traffic is being routed south on Fancher, then east on Alki Avenue and north on Eastern Avenue back to Broadway. Traffic on Fancher at times is reduced to one lane in each direction, Branch says. As part of that project, sidewalks, pedestrian ramps, and storm drain systems are being improved, and new conduits are being added.