SPOKANE, Wash. — Construction on the Maple Street Bridge is creating traffic backups in downtown Spokane. Beginning Monday, Sep. 18, all northbound lanes will be closed.
The traffic is not just causing headaches for drivers, but also for downtown businesses.
Uncle Rusty’s Diner sits on Second Avenue near Walnut Street. Before Monday, the construction had no affect on business.
That all changed Monday and the team at the restaurant told NonStop Local they had very few customers.
“This [Monday] is really the first day that it’s affected our business. All the closures have been at night so far. So, I think we’re gonna see a… bigger loss of business as it goes on,” Brian Northcraft, one of the owners of Uncle Rusty’s Diner, said.
“When you’re trying to go out and have a nice breakfast or something, you don’t want to come down and deal with traffic for an extra 15 or 20 minutes,” Northcraft said.
Northcraft saw intersections blocked off, traffic backups on Second Avenue and new hazards at their business for their customers. He said drivers have been cutting through their parking lot trying to get ahead of the traffic.
“We have customers walking through our parking lot. People come in that have small children. We have elderly people come in. And when someone is cutting through pretty fast, it creates a dangerous situation for them,” Northcraft said.
Northcraft believes the traffic will deter people from visiting Uncle Rusty’s Diner.
Kirstin Davis, the communications manager for The City of Spokane, said crews are currently wrapping up the “grinding phase” of the project.
“So now, those northbound lanes are completely closed because we have to prep that surface for that concrete to be laid,” Davis said.
The northbound lane closing are set to be in effect for northbound lanes until Oct. 6.
The entire Maple Street Bridge project is expected to be finished in mid-November.
