Stretch of Wellesley closing for 3 years to make room for North Spokane Corridor
SPOKANE, Wash. — Wellesley Avenue between Freya and Market Streets will close for three years to make room for the North Spokane Corridor.
The closure was supposed to begin Wednesday, but has been pushed back to Thursday.
Unfavorable weather delayed the reopening of Euclid Ave, which will be used as workaround during the Wellesley closure.
Once that closure begins, drivers can reroute on Euclid Ave or continue north to E. Francis Avenue.
The work on the Wellesley Avenue interchange is part of the second BNSF Realignment project. This includes the realignment and relocation of the tracks from Rowan to Cleveland Avenues to make way for the future NSC mainline alignment. The project expected to be completed at the end of 2022.
When fully complete, the freeway will be a 60-mile per hour, 10.5-mile long north/south road connecting to I-90 on the south end (just west of the existing Thor/Freya Interchange) and US 2 (at Farwell Road) and US 395 (at Wandermere) on the north end.
Interchanges along the corridor will be located at Trent Avenue (SR 290), Wellesley Avenue, Francis/Freya Street, Parksmith Drive, US 2 and US 395 at Wandermere.
Work on the North Spokane Corridor has been ongoing since 2001 and will cost approximately $879 million.
The goal is to decrease travel time, fuel usage and congestion, while improving safety on local arterials.
According to the Washington Department of Transportation, travel time between Wandermere and I-90 will be shortened by about 12 minutes and the north/south freeway will lead to fewer trucks on arterials.
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