Debi Hammel and Dave Blyton hug after cutting the ribbon on a new overpass at Cheney-Spokane Road and U.S. Highway 195 on Friday as Thomas Grieb, right, and local lawmakers look on. Hammel's 16-year-old daughter, Lorissa Green, was killed at the intersection in 2009 when Blyton's truck struck her car as she was turning left onto the highway. Since, Hammel, Blyton and Grieb, who was paralyzed in a collision at the same intersection, have lobbied for an overpass to make the intersection safer. Crews still have to complete the fourth leg of the interchange, the southbound on-ramp, but the finished bridge will eliminate left turns like the one that killed Green and another driver earlier this month. "This is a huge day," Hammel said in a ceremony at the intersection, the bridge behind her lined with pink balloons in memory of her daughter. "This is closure for our family, and I think for a lot of our friends."
