North Spokane Corridor - US 395 in Spokane, WA

[Henry]

I, for one, will be glad when the freeway is completed to I-90 and open to traffic, whether in seven years or 12.

[The Ghostbuster]

It took 55 years for the NSC to go from original conception to when construction first began (1946-2001). If it is completed by 2029, as planned, that will have been 83 years between original conception to completion. That's a hell of a long time!

[Plutonic Panda]

It took 55 years for the NSC to go from original conception to when construction first began (1946-2001). If it is completed by 2029, as planned, that will have been 83 years between original conception to completion. That's a hell of a long time!

*2nd Ave subway has entered the chat*

[usends]

Project link has changed: https://wsdot.wa.gov/construction-planning/major-projects/north-spokane-corridor

Obviously they're currently referring to this road as "Future 395", but I came to this thread trying to find out whether it will carry US 2 as well.  Once the connection to I-90 is complete, I can't imagine they would continue directing US 2 traffic down Division.  If Division needs to remain on the state highway system, then wouldn't WSDOT just designate it Business 2/395?  Or maybe give it an SR number?

[Bruce]

Project link has changed: https://wsdot.wa.gov/construction-planning/major-projects/north-spokane-corridor

Obviously they're currently referring to this road as "Future 395", but I came to this thread trying to find out whether it will carry US 2 as well.  Once the connection to I-90 is complete, I can't imagine they would continue directing US 2 traffic down Division.  If Division needs to remain on the state highway system, then wouldn't WSDOT just designate it Business 2/395?  Or maybe give it an SR number?

WSDOT does not maintain business routes for Interstates or US routes, so the options are keeping US 2 on Division (which I believe is the current plan) or assigning a new state route (which would be a bit pointless).

[The Ghostbuster]

So that would leave making N. Newport Hwy., N./S. Division St., N. Ruby St., and N./S. Browne St. unnumbered local streets maintained by the city.

[oscar]

Obviously they're currently referring to this road as "Future 395", but I came to this thread trying to find out whether it will carry US 2 as well.  Once the connection to I-90 is complete, I can't imagine they would continue directing US 2 traffic down Division.  If Division needs to remain on the state highway system, then wouldn't WSDOT just designate it Business 2/395?  Or maybe give it an SR number?

WSDOT does not maintain business routes for Interstates or US routes....

Washington supposedly has five Interstate (but no US) business routes. Are those routes locally maintained?

[Bruce]

Obviously they're currently referring to this road as "Future 395", but I came to this thread trying to find out whether it will carry US 2 as well.  Once the connection to I-90 is complete, I can't imagine they would continue directing US 2 traffic down Division.  If Division needs to remain on the state highway system, then wouldn't WSDOT just designate it Business 2/395?  Or maybe give it an SR number?

WSDOT does not maintain business routes for Interstates or US routes....

Washington supposedly has five Interstate (but no US) business routes. Are those routes locally maintained?

They are all locally maintained and signed, which is why their standards vary a bit. WSDOT does not acknowledge them at all in the state highway logs or other inventories. There are also a few business routes for state highways that are not in the logs, but do get mentioned in random spots (e.g. this project plan for SR 3).

It's why I don't really bother to keep track of them; researching their history is really difficult due to how poorly documented they are.

[jakeroot]

With that in mind, who is responsible for the I-5 Business Loop in Seattle?

As far as I know, it's just the C/D lanes, which would still be WSDOT maintenance.

[Algorithm]

How on earth would C/D lanes qualify as a business loop, that's worse than Sacramento

[jakeroot]

How on earth would C/D lanes qualify as a business loop, that's worse than Sacramento

I don't know if it's actually legit, but it has been up for five years now.

[jay8g]

I believe those signs were intended to be a temporary thing for the northbound mainline paving project a few years back along with the widening project that is currently underway, but the (seemingly endless) delays with the widening project have meant that the signs have stayed in place much longer than they were really supposed to. I've never quite understood why they were installed in the first place... probably a misguided attempt to make people less confused when through traffic was being detoured to the CD lanes during construction.

[stevashe]

I believe those signs were intended to be a temporary thing for the northbound mainline paving project a few years back along with the widening project that is currently underway, but the (seemingly endless) delays with the widening project have meant that the signs have stayed in place much longer than they were really supposed to. I've never quite understood why they were installed in the first place... probably a misguided attempt to make people less confused when through traffic was being detoured to the CD lanes during construction.

It almost seems like they just forgot to cover the Business 5 shield, since one of them was covered up at some point, but the other is still visible: https://goo.gl/maps/CyiXR467t6nS3mqW6

WSDOT does not maintain business routes for Interstates or US routes....

Washington supposedly has five Interstate (but no US) business routes. Are those routes locally maintained?

This sign in Cashmere would beg to differ about there being no US business routes! https://goo.gl/maps/ajNVkdbjJJ11XcFi7
This is the only one I know of, though.

[Bruce]

Another 2.5 miles down to Wellesley Avenue will open in "mid-November" with a ribbon-cutting scheduled for November 16.

https://www.krem.com/article/money/economy/boomtown-inland-northwest/section-of-spokanes-north-south-freeway-nearing-completion-boomtown-krem-2-news/293-ca61c338-11a7-483a-bc0b-1e51d59622ff

[jakeroot]

Another 2.5 miles down to Wellesley Avenue will open in "mid-November" with a ribbon-cutting scheduled for November 16.

https://www.krem.com/article/money/economy/boomtown-inland-northwest/section-of-spokanes-north-south-freeway-nearing-completion-boomtown-krem-2-news/293-ca61c338-11a7-483a-bc0b-1e51d59622ff

Very good news. But I don't know where they're getting 2.5. Being generous, I'm only getting around 2 miles. Then again, I'm just using the Google Maps measurement tool.

Great to see this project making more progress. I think people in Spokane are rightly frustrated by the lack of progress, but getting this section opened, and really seeing some highly-visible progress elsewhere, will really help with the PR part of this project.

[hurricanehink]

How is this supposed to connect to I-90? Seems like there is a lot of development in the way.

[jakeroot]

How is this supposed to connect to I-90? Seems like there is a lot of development in the way.

Structures are being demolished to make way for a directional-T interchange.

Most of the demolition has already occurred. If you go back into historic imagery (Historic Aerials, Google Earth, et al) you can see how much has been demolished. It's quite extensive.

[Bruce]

How is this supposed to connect to I-90? Seems like there is a lot of development in the way.

The area around the future interchange has already been razed for the most part, and the remainder in between is mostly industrial. It's going to be a disruptive freeway through what remains of a historically Black neighborhood, because what's old is new again.

[Plutonic Panda]

Still good news mobility will be improved in the area. I can't wait to drive the whole thing.

[The Ghostbuster]

On Google Maps Satellite View, it shows signs of construction on the North Spokane Corridor going as far south as E. Mission Ave. near Spokane Community College (although there are no signs of constructing a bridge over the Spokane River).

[jakeroot]

On Google Maps Satellite View, it shows signs of construction on the North Spokane Corridor going as far south as E. Mission Ave. near Spokane Community College (although there are no signs of constructing a bridge over the Spokane River).

It is not visible on satellite imagery, but info from WSDOT on their page for the project suggests that work has begun.

https://wsdot.wa.gov/construction-planning/search-projects/us-395-nsc-spokane-river-crossing

[pderocco]

The latest Google Earth imagery (for which you have to turn on the time slider) doesn't show any sign that there will be a connection between Wellesley Ave and US-395 southbound, only northbound, and neither does that low-resolution map.

[jakeroot]

The latest Google Earth imagery (for which you have to turn on the time slider) doesn't show any sign that there will be a connection between Wellesley Ave and US-395 southbound, only northbound, and neither does that low-resolution map.

The ramps to/from southbound 395 to Wellesley Ave are right up against the freeway and tie into a roundabout, slightly visible in the imagery underneath the 395 overpass.

[pderocco]

Wow, they could have moved the road a little more to the right, couldn't they?

[jakeroot]

Wow, they could have moved the road a little more to the right, couldn't they?

Possibly yes. Though maybe that would have required more earthwork on both sides of the ramp. The current setup basically is just a wall on the left, and grading up to the railway on the right. In either case, they were working within pretty tight confines, so it was never going to be as spacious as the folded diamond for the northbound ramps.