Study looks at the future of the Latah Bridge | News

City of Spokane engineers are considering several different options in rehabilitating the Latah Bridge in west Spokane.

The bridge has been around for almost 100 years, connecting downtown Spokane to the West Plains. The bridge is starting to age and safety is a concern. The outer lanes of the bridge had to be removed, reducing the bridge from a four lane road to a two lane road for structural safety.

A traffic study was completed on the bridge, and engineers have come up with five different ways they could rehabilitate the bridge, costing anywhere from $15 to $27 million dollars total.

That study recommended that The City of Spokane should consider a long-term solution (40+ years), rather than a short term solution for the bridge.

The study also recommended long-term options should provide for bridge deck widening sufficient to accommodate more vehicle traffic, pedestrians, bicyclists, transit and freight demands.

Due to uncertainty in obtaining Federal funding to complete the project, a timetable for starting the project is uncertain.

For more information on this project and the study done on the Latah bridge, visit http://www.spokaneengineering.org/latah-bridge.