WSU is planning for a few construction projects on campus, including a shared sidewalk/bike lane and possible construction on two pedestrian bridges.

The shared sidewalk and bike lane construction will take place on Main Street from Bishop Boulevard to Stadium Way. Construction begins April 2022 and ends in August that year, said John Shaheen, WSU Transportation Services director.

The sidewalk, which is 6 feet wide, is being extended to 12 feet with a 3-foot buffer on both sides, Shaheen said. The expansion is being added to around 1,500 feet of the sidewalk.

No detours are planned for Main Street, but it is possible a lane may close, he said. 

A $743,595 Washington State Department of Transportation grant will partially fund the project, which costs $949,000. Transportation Services will provide the additional $200,000.

“We look for the community benefits, mainly in the bike and [pedestrian] program in particular. We are always trying to encourage more multimodal use,” said Keith Martin, WSDOT Eastern Region local programs engineer.

WSDOT sets aside more than $40 million a year to fund its Pedestrian and Bicycle grant program, promoting simpler methods of transportation, Martin said. 

“In the bike and pedestrian program, in particular, we’re looking at removing barriers to biking and walking,” he said.

Additional construction may occur on the Troy/Wegner and the Johnson Tower bridges, said Joe Kline, Facility Services, Capital assistant vice president. 

Both bridges closed on July 20 after WSU announced structural concerns were raised about the bridge.

“We went ahead and hired a consultant to look at the other pedestrian bridges on campus,” Kline said. “They found some structural issues with those two bridges and recommended that we look into it further.”

It is undecided whether the bridges will need repairs. The department is bringing in an additional engineering group to get a second opinion, he said. 

“When we saw these structural problems, we thought out of an abundance of caution, we would get people off them until we had additional engineering survey work done,” Kline said. “We are not concerned about them just sort of falling down tomorrow.”

The crew will determine whether the bridges are secure, need construction or need to be torn down completely. The inspection is expected to happen within the next 60 days, he said.

The bridges are expected to be closed at least until September. Alternate routes avoiding the bridge can be found on WSU’s announcement closing the bridges.