US 10 (trunk)

Spokane to Idaho State Line

Spokane to Spokane Valley (I-90 Exit 285)

The original highway approach to Spokane from the west followed a narrow, winding roadway to the west end of High Bridge. In the mid 1930s the 4 lane Sunset Highway was built. The roadway now known as Inland Empire Way was constructed around 1936 as a new route for US 195 entering the city from the south. The partial interchange at the Junction of the Sunset Highway and Inland Empire Way was built in at this time. The highway continued northeasterly for a few blocks to 2nd or 3rd Ave, then east for several blocks, then north to Sprague, the east on Sprague. US 195 and 395 left US 10 in the downtown area. Their routes through the north end of Spokane changed over time. US 395 originally headed north on Monroe, then east on Garland, then north on Wall to the north city limits. US 195 headed out through Hillyard on the way to Newport. US 195 and 395 were combined onto North Division sometime in the later 1930s.

Second and Third were converted into one way streets around 1951. A couple of years later Sprague Way was built east of downtown to provide a diagonal connection to the 2nd-3rd one way couplet. Construction began in the mid 1950s on the Spokane Valley Freeway. as sections of the freeway opened to traffic, US 10 was shifted from E Sprague Ave to the freeway. The freeway had extended west from the valley to Liberty Park by the late 1950s and US 10 was routed via the 2nd-3rd Ave couplet from Sprague Way to liberty park to tie into the freeway. The Spokane Valley Freeway is now part of I-90.

The former route of US 10 was posted as Business Loop 90 through Spokane from the 1960s until late 2001.

Spokane Valley (I-90 Exit 285) to Liberty Lake (I-90 Exit 296)

At Exit 285, I-90 crosses over Sprague Ave (old US 10) from the south side to the north. Old US 10 followed Sprague Ave through what at the time were the unincorporated communities of Dishman, Opportunity, Veradale, and Greenacres. These communities are now inside the City of Spokane Valley. Just west of Greenacres old US 10 left Sprague and headed northeasterly on Appleway. The old highway and the Spokane Valley Freeway converged at Exit 294. Old US 10 was posted as Business Loop 90 in the Spokane Valley from the 1960s through the 1980s. The freeway is built on top of the old highway from Exit 294 to Exit 296.

Liberty Lake (I-90 Exit 296) to Idaho State Line

At Exit 296, the old highway left the freeway and headed northeasterly on Appleway for abut 2 miles, then headed north, crossed some railroad tracks, then rejoined the route of I-90. The freeway from Exit 296 to the vicinity of milepost 298 opened to traffic around 1964. This section of freeway originally included a railroad grade separation (bridge). The tracks have since been abandoned and the railroad bridge over the freeway was removed a few years ago when a new northbound to westbound loop ramp was added to the Exit 296 interchange.

I-90 from milepost 298 to Exit 299 is built on top of the old highway. East of Exit 299, old US 10 and I-90 follow separate routes to the Idaho State Line. The old highway is now called Spokane Bridge Road and is located north of I-90. This road crosses the Spokane River a few hundred feet west of the state line. The present 4 lane bridge was built in the late 1930s in a style similar to that of the 1937 US 99 bridge across the Deschutes River in Tumwater. The twin I-90 bridges over the Spokane River stradle the state line.