SPOKANE, Wash — In six days, the bridge that connects 57th Avenue to Highway 195 will close for repairs.
The Hatch Road Bridge is the only road that connects the far south side of Spokane to the highway. The construction means a major detour for people who use Hatch Road to access shopping centers and schools.
Lakeisha Branch uses it several times a day and is not looking forward to the closure.
“Just knowing that I’m going to be adding time to my daily activity is, it’s a hassle,” she said.
She’s not alone. Jeff Bell rides a motorcycle. The alternate route option of using the freeway to get to the Eagle Ridge neighborhood is less than ideal.
“This, 55 alone is enough speed for me. Like, I didn’t get a bike to like race. I got a bike for me to be quicker and save on gas and stuff like that,” he said. “Now, I’m going to have to jump on the freeway just to get up to the South Hill, literally South Hill is an everyday thing for me.”
Paul Marano, who lives off of Hatch Road, isn’t looking forward to the commute.
“There are a lot of other ways you can go, but like they have so much more traffic and the highway, it’s faster and it’s consistent, that it’s definitely going to be more difficult,” he said.
He explained there’s already a lot of traffic during rush hour.
“I don’t even want to imagine what it’s going to look like. I’ll probably never leave this neighborhood or come anywhere close during that time because it’ll be rough,” Marano said.
Communications Manager for the City of Spokane, Kirstin Davis, explained the repairs needed to be done because of the traffic.
“The long-term benefits for this are huge and the reality is, this bridge has been shifting,” she said. “Because of the kind of traffic and the amount of traffic it gets, it needs to be repaired.”
The Hatch Road Bridge will close on March 29 for repairs. Construction is set to be completed on July 31.
Hatch Bridge Project Detour by Tasha Cain
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