Spokane Falls Blvd. to be closed second weekend in September

Closure is needed for final work on CSO tank

Marlene Feist, Public Works, (509) 625-6505

Thursday, August 27, 2020 at 2:35 p.m.

Spokane Falls Boulevard will be closed from Howard to Monroe streets from Friday, Sept. 11, at 7 p.m. until Monday, Sept. 14, at 5 a.m. to accommodate work at the last of the City’s projects to reduce overflows from combined sewers to the Spokane River.

Additionally:

  • Post Street north of Spokane Falls Boulevard won’t be accessible during this time.
  • The River Park Square parking garage will be accessible from the entrance at Lincoln Street and Main Avenue. Customers leaving the garage will exit eastbound onto Spokane Falls Boulevard and turn south on Wall Street.
  • The ongoing closure of Lincoln between Spokane Falls Boulevard and Main Avenue will remain in place.

The closure will accommodate the construction of raised crosswalk at Spokane Falls Boulevard and Lincoln that’s designed to increase pedestrian safety and to add permanent striping on this section of Spokane Falls Boulevard. The work is weather dependent.

Construction along Spokane Falls Boulevard between Lincoln and Monroe is the last of the planned work to reduce overflows from combined wastewater and stormwater sewers to the Spokane River. In some parts of the City, wastewater and stormwater sewers are linked together, and during periods of heavy rain or rapid snowmelt, these pipes can become overwhelmed and overflow to the river. Tanks store the excess water until the storm surge subsides and the water can be sent to the Riverside Park Water Reclamation Facility for treatment.

The project on Spokane Falls Boulevard includes one of the largest tanks the City has constructed with a capacity of 2.2 million gallons of combined wastewater. The tank sits under a new public plaza located along Spokane Falls Boulevard across from the Downtown Library. The plaza opened in late May.

Overall, the City has installed about two dozen tanks with a total of more than 16 million gallons of storage capacity. The City is investing more than $350 million to improve the health of the river. A major upgrade at the City’s treatment plant continues as well.