Safeway Inc. has launched a $1 million-plus traffic-improvement project at its distribution center in the Hillyard neighborhood, says Dane Albrecht, corporate operations engineering manager for the big Pleasanton, Calif.-based supermarket chain.

The project involves mostly pavement work with a combination of asphalt and concrete surfaces at the facility at 5707 N. Freya. Safeway operates its 289,000-square-foot Spokane Distribution Center warehouse on a 26-acre parcel of land there at the northwest corner of Freya Street and Rowan Avenue, Albrecht says.

Vandervert Construction Inc., of Spokane, is the contractor on the project.

"We're hoping to complete it before the end of October," Albrecht says.

The improvements are designed to relieve congestion on Freya, he says.

"It's a safety-and-efficiency project," Albrecht says. "Safeway wants to move heavy tractors off of Freya and onto Rowan."

The project includes multiple truck entrance and exit lanes along Rowan, Albrecht says. It also includes a new employee parking lot with a separate access on Freya.

Employees and truck traffic currently share the Freya access to the 49-year-old facility, contributing to congestion there, Albrecht says.

The Spokane Distribution Center has about 140 employees and serves 43 Safeway stores in Eastern Washington, North Idaho, and western Montana, says Mike Fuhrman, the center's manager. On a typical day, 80 to 100 trucks load and unload goods at the distribution center, Fuhrman says.