US 395, Part 28: Spokane and Northern Spokane County (US 2/US 395 and US 395)

As the Bible says, the last shall be first, and in this case, the first last. Part 28 begins the original US 395 as designated during the initial formulation of US highways in 1924. From here it proceeds to the Canadian border in nearly the same fashion as it did during its first signage in Washington state. This portion of US 395 was originally signed/co-signed as WA 3 (PSH).

US 395's original terminus doesn't exist in its original form after the 1951 reconfiguration of 2nd and 3rd Avenues, but we saw its rough approximation in the last Part at the corner of 3rd Ave and Monroe St. Its earliest routing during its initial signage was then north over the spectacular Spokane Falls along Monroe St for several miles, then right on W Garland Ave, and left onto N Wall St to continue NB. The fabulous Monroe Street Bridge, first constructed as a primitive wooden crossing in 1888, is one of Spokane's best scenic spots over the falls and we'll visit it. The old routing past the city limits has since been disturbed by new construction, but is roughly approximated by continuing on N Waikiki Rd, veering right (east) onto N Mill Rd, and then rejoining present-day US 395 at the intersection of US 395, N Little Spokane Dr and N Mill Rd. This routing persisted at most until 1937; around 1930 the southern end moved up to Sprague and Monroe, where it stayed until US 395 was moved east. We will spend only a little time on it due to its discontinuity. US 195, for its part, ran slightly further to the east through what was then Hillyard (now part of Spokane); the 1926 map at left shows it on Division St crossing the Spokane River, then heading east along Mission, Hamilton and Illinois to leave town as Market St. Outside of town, Market St then intersects the Newport Hwy, modern US 2, at WA 206 and old US 195 continues north along on modern US 2.

By 1937, US 395 had been shifted to modern Division St also. The southbound lanes were transferred to Browne St south of the Spokane River sometime in the 1950s, probably around the same time as the 2nd/3rd Avenue conversion. US 195, and now US 2, then diverged east north of the city limits along what is now the Newport Hwy as described above.

US 395 from I-90 north is due for significant changes, some of which have occurred already. North of Mill Rd/Little Spokane Dr, US 395 has been widened into expressway for a short portion with a grade-separated interchange. The portion between mile 167 and 172.6 was completed in 2001; the original road is now the southbound lanes. There are plans to expand this section for an additional seven miles in the future. A bypass of Deer Park was also completed, which is now a single exit. Within Spokane itself, there are plans to move US 395 to a freeway alignment "North Spokane Corridor Freeway" just west of the existing Thor/Freya interchange, running north and west to cross the Newport Hwy (throwing off US 2) and connect to the expressway already constructed north of town. Some grading and reconfiguring work has already been completed along the freeway right-of-way as of this writing (see the WSDOT photograph at right); the new US 395 freeway is expected to reach completion in the next decade, opening after 2011.