Spokane's Historic East Trent Bridge Will Be Demolished In Early June

Press release from the Washington State Department of Transportation:

May 27, 2020

SPOKANE – The historic East Trent Bridge, built in 1910 on State Route 290, is finally set to be demolished starting in early June. Travelers are encouraged to seek alternate routes as Washington State Department of Transportation contractor crews begin to remove and replace the structure.

Starting June 1, Trent Avenue/SR 290 between Hamilton Street and North Iron Court will be closed to pedestrian, bicycle and vehicular traffic. Several detours for large trucks, light vehicles and pedestrians will be signed for the duration of the closure. The work, originally planned to begin in March, was pushed back due to COVID-19 construction restrictions. The closure of the East Trent Bridge will last until the fall of 2023. The public can sign up for email and text updates on detours and construction.

Once the bridge is completed, travelers can look forward to added bike lanes in both directions of travel, as well as a wide shared-use path on the south side of the bridge and a sidewalk for pedestrians on the north side.

History

The city of Spokane built the existing Luten arch style concrete bridge in 1910 to replace a wooden structure resting on wooden pilings. The new bridge was one of 12 concrete bridges built in Spokane between 1907 and 1917 and carried a double-track street car line until around 1936.

This press release was produced by the Washington State Department of Transportation. The views expressed here are the author’s own.