SPOKANE, Wash. – Monroe Street from Wellesley Avenue to Francis Avenue was closed this morning after the city determined the road needed to be repaired further before being repaved, the city of Spokane said.
The city said the road would remain closed in both directions through Thursday, but that restrictions and openings are always changing. There were cars driving in one lane northbound on Monroe Street, but both southbound lanes were closed. This project started on May 6 and should be completed by mid-August.
Kirstin Davis, Communications Manager for Spokane Public Works said fixing this problem now will keep the road from needing a much larger repair in the future.
Davis said that years of weather and traffic on the road caused a need for some major repairs, which they had to close the road completely so they could fix… in speaking with some people who live on Monroe Street say it’s long overdue for a repair…
“That does mean going into those areas that are collapsing and making sure that they are shored up so that when we make it all level and go to do the overlay and put the new surface on, that it’s nice and clean and even,” Davis said.
Karla Porter was one of the people directly impacted by the road work. She has lived on Monroe Street for 20 years and said the repairs are overdue.
“Before they did that it was bumpy, you hit potholes all the time… it’s been needed to be done with all the cracks, dips, and patches for years,” Porter said.
The city said they are in the third of four phases during their grind and overlay process. They will raise the utility access areas, and then pave the road to finish the project. Davis said the project should be finished in four to six weeks.
