The Washington state Department of Transportation has awarded Max J. Kuney Co., of Spokane, a $5 million contract to lower part of Farwell Road and construct four bridges over Farwell to build part of the North Spokane Corridor there.


Mike Gribner, the DOTs North Spokane Corridor project engineer, says seven other construction companies also bid on the project, which the DOT had estimated would cost about $5.9 million.


The contract is the first of four that are to be awarded within the North Spokane Corridors Francis-Avenue-to-Farwell-Road section, which will provide one north-south freeway lane in each direction on that roughly 4.5-mile stretch when completed in 2008, Gribner says. Motorists will be able to use that stretch even though the rest of the North Spokane Corridor wont be completed.


DOT project engineer Bob Hilmes says Max J. Kuney began work on the project two weeks ago, grading an area parallel to Farwell for a detour route. The project should be completed by November, he says.


The first portion of the Francis-to-Farwell project will include lowering by about 12 feet the elevation of a 2,000-foot section of Farwell, Hilmes says. The road there is being lowered to accommodate the four freeway bridges that are to be constructed over that section of Farwell, he says.


The project also will involve moving a number of utilities, such as telephone and water lines, from that area, Hilmes says.


Max J. Kuney will perform deep dynamic compaction, or dropping a heavy weight from a height of 50 to 80 feet, to increase the density of the soil there so it can bear the weight of the four freeway bridges, Hilmes says. Most of the area is clear of residents or businesses, though some people living nearby may hear some noise or feel vibrations in the ground, he says.


Theyll know whats going on, he says. Itll just sound like a thump, thump, thump, to them.


Max J. Kuney will resurface all of Farwell and grade a section parallel to that road, which will accommodate the three additional lanes Spokane County plans to add to Farwell in the future, Hilmes says.


During construction, traffic will be diverted to the detour route, which will run just east of U.S. 2 and north of Farwell, intersecting with Farwell at Cherry Road, Hilmes says.


The DOT began work on the North Spokane Corridor project in 2001 with drainage and grading work between Hawthorne Road and Farwell, which was completed in the spring of 2002, Hilmes says.


After that, the agency had to stop work on the project because it ran out of funds, he says.


Voter approval of the nickel gas tax last July boosted the DOTs budget, allowing it to move forward with right-of-way acquisitions, Hilmes says. The DOT has appropriated about $108 million for the Francis-to-Farwell section of the overall project, and about $81 million for the next segment of the north-south freeway, between U.S. 2 and Wandermere Road.


Gribner says the work to be done under the next contract in the Francis-to-Farwell section will include grading and moving utilities between U.S. 2 and U.S. Highway 395, and Parksmith and Fairview roads.


That contract should go to bid in early fall, he says.


The DOT has enough funds appropriated for the North Spokane Corridor project to build a drivable four-lane section of the freeway between U.S. 2 and U.S. 395, interchanges at those two highways, and the two-lane Francis-to-Farwell section, Gribner says.


Well need to get more money at that point, he says.


About 5.6 miles of the freeway should be completed by 2011, when the DOT estimates that it will carry about 15,000 vehicles a day, Gribner says.


After that, the timeframe for completing the $1.4 to $1.6 billion, 10.5-mile-long freeway will depend on when more money becomes available, he says.