Spokane construction concern Max J. Kuney Co. has been awarded a $17.2 million state contract to build six bridges along the planned north-south freeway route beginning in August.


All of the bridges are to be constructed north of Francis Avenue, the only stretch of the proposed 10.2 mile freeway for which construction money has been approved so far, says Larry Larson, project engineer here with the Washington state Department of Transportation.


The overall project, known formally as the North Spokane Corridor, eventually is to include a freeway connecting U.S. 395, north of Spokane, to Interstate 90, in east Spokane. Though the state has provided some money to buy right-of-way along the route south of Francis, all of the $189 million set aside for the project in the states 2003 transportation package, from which the current work is being done, was allocated for work north of Francis, Larson says.


That work, in addition to constructing four bridges that already are in place over Farwell Road, so far includes work on northbound freeway lanes from Francis to Farwell, and grading parts of the complete four-lane freeway from Farwell to where the freeway will connect with U.S. 395, in the Wandermere area, he says.


In 2004, the projected cost for the entire 20-year project was $2.3 billion, but we have seen a major escalation in costs, Larson says. He says a revised estimate for the entire project could be released as early as November.


The bridges contract with Kuney is the third of six contracts the DOT plans to award from the $189 million allocated for the project in the transportation package, says Al Gilson, regional spokesman for the DOT.


Larson says Kuney should begin work on the bridges in mid-August, and will have 380 working days to complete the job. That means, weather permitting, the project could be completed by March 2008, he says.


Three of the bridges will be located southeast of U.S. 2, at Fairview Road, Market Street, and where the freeway route will cross over both the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway line and Parksmith Drive. Two more will be located where Shady Slope Road intersects with U.S. 2, and the sixth will be located farther north where Perry Street crosses the planned freeway route.


The contractor will likely start at the south and move north, says Larson. We want them to start getting going early there because the fourth bid, that includes a railroad tunnel near the proposed Market Street bridge, will be released this fall. He says the railroad tunnel will be located south of Hawthorne Road and east of Market.


In addition to the four bridges for the freeway that have already have been built over Farwell, contracts for seven more vehicle bridges and possibly one pedestrian bridge still are to be awarded for the northbound side of the freeway. Those overpasses will be located at the U.S. 2 and U.S. 395 interchanges with the planned freeway, Larson says.


He says the DOT expects to open in 2008 or 2009 the first portions of the new freeway: one lane of traffic in each direction along a four-mile stretch between Farwell and Francis.


Contact Rocky Wilson at (509) 344-1264 or via e-mail at rockyw@spokanejournal.com.