SPOKANE, Wash. – Construction projects across Spokane face indefinite delays as contractor union strikes create widespread traffic disruptions and force the city to close additional streets without clear completion timelines.
The Local 302 strike, now in its second week, has severely limited asphalt availability, forcing the city to halt most street resurfacing projects. The ongoing labor dispute has created what drivers describe as the worst road closure conditions they have ever experienced in the area.
Starting Monday, the city will close Maxwell Avenue from Elm Street to Walnut Street to east-west traffic, though north-south traffic will continue flowing through intersections. The closure adds to an already extensive list of road restrictions that have transformed routine commutes into lengthy detours.
“It’s terrible, it’s absolutely terrible,” said Cindy Davis, a commuter from Spokane Valley. Davis and her husband Joe report their typical 25-minute commute now takes an hour due to construction-related closures.
“It’s really bad and construction out in the valley is bad too,” said Cindy and Joe.
Joe Davis said he cannot travel north of his house without encountering some form of construction.
“It’s terrible. We were actually just trying to figure out, do we go back that way just to get to the freeway. We have to go up north just to get to the valley,” Cindy Davis said.
The city cannot get the asphalt it needs to complete most construction projects due to the Local 302 strike. Crews are doing work that doesn’t involve asphalt while the city waits for the strike to end.
“What we’re able to do is pull out that concrete, we can work with concrete and we can get in those new signal poles and signals that are going to be happening with the project anyway,” said Kirstin Davis, a City of Spokane representative.
The city encourages drivers to stay up to date on road closures and to slow down in construction zones to keep everyone safe.
All of the city’s street resurfacing projects are on hold.
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