The city of Spokane recently approved a contract with the Spokane office of Portland-based David Evans & Associates Inc. for design of a traffic signal to be installed at 44th Avenue and Regal Street.

That location is at the crux of traffic delays on a road system that serves several developments, including a Shopko store, an Ace Hardware store, and a retail center called Regal Pond Village. Just south of that intersection, the four-lane Regal arterial narrows to two lanes with a turn lane.

During heavy traffic hours, vehicles are unable to make left turns at the intersection without causing traffic to back up, says city spokeswoman Ann Deasy.

The city hopes the design work will be done quickly, and to install the signal later this year, Deasy says. It expects the entire project to cost around $300,000, including the about $45,000 contract with David Evans & Associates, and to take about three months to build. Depending on the final design, however, the city might need to purchase right of way at one of the corners of that intersection, which could delay the project until next year. The city doesn't know yet when construction bids will be sought, Deasy says.

In another city project, Acme Concrete Paving Inc., of Spokane, is putting in a concrete intersection and upgrading traffic signals at Francis Avenue and Nevada Street, on Spokane's North Side, Deasy says. The contractor is replacing the asphalt surface of the intersection there.

The $800,000 project is expected to be completed in June, she says. During the work, Francis is open, but traffic is reduced to one lane in each direction, although vehicles traveling on Nevada are being detoured around the intersection. Northbound traffic is being detoured west on Wellesley Avenue to Division, then back to Nevada on Lincoln Road. Southbound traffic is being diverted east to Crestline Street via Lincoln, then back to Nevada on Wellesley.