As part of the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening and Ramp Project, westbound lower Spokane Street will be closed starting Oct. 19 to through traffic between Fourth and First avenues. 

This closure is in preparation for widening the Spokane Street Viaduct.  Local access for businesses in the closed segment will be maintained, but a detour route will be in effect through year 2011 for all other traffic, according to a release from the city's department of transportation.
 
The closure of westbound lanes will allow underground utility work to begin before construction starts on the new upper roadway structure.  This new structure, which will add 41 feet of width to the existing Spokane Street Viaduct, will be positioned directly over the westbound lanes of lower Spokane Street. 
 
Portions of eastbound lower Spokane Street, which are now closed to through traffic, will remain closed while construction of the Fourth Avenue Ramp continues.  Traffic on the upper roadway (the Spokane Street Viaduct) will not yet be affected. 
 
The detour route will direct westbound traffic from South Spokane Street at Fourth Avenue north to South Lander Street, then west to the newly repaved First Avenue, returning south to South Spokane Street headed westbound. 
 
As construction proceeds, additional segments of lower Spokane Street will be closed to through traffic, including the westbound segments between Sixth and Fourth Avenues, and between First Avenue and East Marginal Way. Substantial completion of the project is expected at the end of 2011.
 
The Spokane Street Viaduct project is funded in part by the Bridging the Gap program, which supports much-needed work by the Seattle Department of Transportation such as roadway paving and sidewalk construction as well major projects.
 
For more information, please visit the project Web page at www.spokaneproject.info.