A Weekly Summary of WSDOT News and Activities
Washington Jobs Now - WSDOT keeps traffic moving through stimulus-funded construction project in western Washington
Lakeside Industries crews are making improvements to nearly 28 miles of SR 4 along the Columbia River in Cowlitz and Wahkiakum counties. |
Sunny weather and coastal breezes often entice Washington drivers to roll down their windows and enjoy the beauty of scenic byways such as SR 4 and US 101. In the summer of 2008, leisurely highway drives down SR 4 were halted by traffic cones and road barriers, as a safety improvement project on the highway required significant road closures. When orange cones and construction barrels appeared once again along SR 4 on June 29 of this year, local drivers and businesses braced themselves for a second summer of traffic impacts.
However, those planning a summer cruise down SR 4 in the next few months can take a deep breath and relax; paving on SR 4 will only minimally impact traffic, and will result in a rejuvenated roadway. During construction, drivers will encounter daytime single-lane closures, with flaggers alternating traffic. The route will remain open throughout the duration of construction.
Paving work is part of WSDOT’s SR 4 - Skamokawa to Coal Creek Road - Paving and Guardrail project, which improves nearly 28 miles of SR 4 through Wahkiakum and Cowlitz counties. Funds from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act were contributed to the project by Wahkiakum County, and have helped contractor crews from Lakeside Industries, Inc. of Longview Wash. get to work installing new safety features and paving the roadway.
Local business owner Mary Remer, expressed enthusiasm about the current project. “I think it’s going to be a real boom to the area," she said. Remer, CEO of the Skyline Golf Course in Cathlamet, looks forward to the possible economic benefits of increased safety and fresh pavement: “We have a lot of baby-boomers traveling here from metropolitan areas and they’re used to good infrastructure. Improving this roadway will encourage people to travel to this beautiful scenic region, and enhance the economic climate of Cathlamet,” she added.
By utilizing federal funds, putting local contractors to work, improving motorist safety, and rejuvenating aged pavement, the SR 4 paving project demonstrates that in Washington State, you can have your road – and drive it too.
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Maintenance & Operations feature - WSDOT delivers tools to help drivers plan holiday travel
More drivers traveled on the state's major corridors during this past Independence Day weekend than in 2008. |
During major holidays when many people are expected to venture out across the state, WSDOT provides travel information for popular highway routes so drivers can make the best decisions for their travel plans. The holiday travel graphs are just one of the tools WSDOT offers on its Web site to give drivers the opportunity to know before they go and know on the road. You can find these travel tools at www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/.
Preliminary data from WSDOT’s Transportation Data Office revealed more drivers hit the roadways for Independence Day weekend 2009 than in 2008, with just one minor exception. WSDOT’s traffic counts show a slight decrease in travel from the Bellingham area north to the Canadian border.
WSDOT’s initial traffic counts show increase of nearly 15 percent in holiday traffic on I-90 Snoqualmie Pass compared to 2008, while on US 2 over Stevens Pass there was a 12 percent increase. On I-5 near Olympia, there was only a 6 percent increase. Further north, on I-5 from Bellingham to the Canadian border, there was a 1 percent decrease from 2008.
While most traffic counts increased, there were no major delays in the mountains most of the weekend. A collision Friday on Snoqualmie Pass slowed drivers in the early evening, but Sunday’s commute back into Western Washington showed only minor delays. Thursday and Friday traffic on I-5 showed typical commute delays. I-5 drivers in the Olympia area heading north experienced slowdowns Sunday afternoon, while those heading south slowed due to a collision near Centralia.
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Update of projects under way
I-90 Seattle - A barge carrying two 65-ton steel expansion joints and a large crane made its journey from the Duwamish Waterway to the I-90 floating bridge on Friday, July 10. WSDOT is replacing cracked expansion joints on westbound I-90 and the express lanes across the floating bridge. Engineers are concerned the joints could pose a safety concern if not replaced. WSDOT replaced the joints in the express lanes from May 4-16. The work in the westbound I-90 began July 5 and is expected to wrap up by July 20.
SR 532 Stanwood - Keeping drivers safe and traffic, goods and tourism moving is what an $84 million upgrade will mean for drivers traveling on SR 532 between I-5 and Camano Island. Local officials, legislators and construction workers broke ground July 1 on a two-year-long project to improve safety and eliminate choke points along a 10-mile stretch of SR 532. Beginning this summer and ending before spring 2011, crews will:
- Replace the 60-year-old General Mark W. Clark Memorial bridge with a wider, safer bridge
- Improve 13 intersections between Camano Island and I-5
- Build a new truck-climbing lane on three troublesome uphill grades
- Repave three miles of SR 532 between the Mark Clark Bridge and 72nd Avenue NW
- Improve the environment by cleaning storm water runoff from the highway
- Install seven new bus pull-outs and new street lights at selected locations
Between 2000 and 2008, drivers were involved in nearly 900 collisions, more than half of those were congestion-related.
SR 542 Glacier - Drivers headed to or from Mount Baker will want to plan ahead for a three-month lane closure that began July 8, on SR 542 (Mount Baker Highway) near Glacier. As part of a project to repair and repaint the Nooksack River bridge, crews will restrict traffic to one lane over the bridge for the duration of the work, which is expected to last into October. Crews will install a temporary traffic signal to direct drivers over the bridge. Drivers can expect minor delays. The Nooksack River bridge was built in 1931 and needs to be sanded down, repaired and repainted every few years to help preserve the structure. The bridge was last repainted 19 years ago.
SR 704 Cross-base highway - Three weeks of paving, grinding and striping on State Route 7 and Spanaway Loop Road (SR 704) began July 6, as crews surge toward a late-summer completion of the first of five SR 704 Cross-Base Highway projects. WSDOT and project contractor Ceccanti, Inc. broke ground on this $7.35 million safety project in July 2008. Dedicated right-turn lanes from Spanaway Loop Road to southbound SR 7 and left-hand turn lanes from SR 7 to Spanaway Loop Road improve safety and ease back-ups during peak travel times. The remaining four SR 704 projects will be completed as funding becomes available. The new corridor stretches east to west between Fort Lewis and McChord military bases and provides congestion relief and reduced delays on I-5, SR 512, SR 7 and county roads.
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Announcements
WSDOT takes contractor bidding system online
WSDOT will begin taking construction contractor bids online in September, an effort expected to reduce administrative paperwork and staff time, as well as reduce costs for contractors. Moving to an online bidding process is also in response to a recommendation in the January 2008 Construction Management/Highway Maintenance Performance Audit.
Accepting and managing the bidding process online provides significant time and cost savings to both agencies and contractors by automating many current manual processes and eliminating the need for contractors to travel to the bid opening location to submit bids in person. Contractors currently submit bids on paper through a hand-delivered sealed bid process. Online bidding allows contractors to submit sealed, secure bids over the Internet. Contractors have a choice of submitting bids over the Internet, or delivering them to WSDOT on disk with a paper backup.
In the last 12 months, the number of bidders on WSDOT contracts has increased from an average of four bidders per contract to double-digit bidder turnouts. By accepting and managing contractor bids online, WSDOT can take advantage of the latest electronic bidding technology to increase efficiency and save money and processing time. Online bidding also eliminates bidding errors with a built-in system that verifies calculations and finds missing data.
For more information about WSDOT’s online bidding, visit: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/biz/contaa/. WSDOT is currently in Beta testing and the system will be in full production mid September 2009.
Second Amtrak Cascades train between Seattle and Vancouver, BC gets “green light” from Canadian government
WSDOT received good news July 3 when the Canadian government announced that they are extending border clearance service for a second daily Amtrak Cascades train between Seattle and Vancouver, BC.
The Canadian government has approved the second train service as a pilot project that could start as soon as August until after the 2010 Olympic and Paralympics Winter Games. WSDOT is working with Amtrak to start preparations to enable the Amtrak Cascades second train to be operational as soon as possible. As part of a review of rail services by the Canadian government, the pilot project will be evaluated at its conclusion to determine if the level of traffic on the rail route is high enough to justify ongoing customs services.
Amtrak Cascades consists of four daily round-trips between Portland and Seattle, with service between Bellingham and Portland, via Seattle; between Eugene and Seattle, via Portland; and between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. Amtrak Cascades is operated by Amtrak in partnership with the Washington and Oregon Departments of Transportation.
Bremerton Tunnel opens for business
Classic cars emerge from the new SR 304 Bremerton Tunnel during the community opening celebration. |
The SR 304 Bremerton Tunnel opened July 6 to off-loading ferry traffic for the first time. The first vehicles drove through the new about 6:30 p.m. Now all vehicular traffic disembarking the Seattle/Bremerton ferry on the Bremerton side will be routed through the tunnel.
Before the tunnel opened to traffic, an estimated 2,000 Bremerton residents walked through the tunnel, as did the Washington Army National Guard Band and several dignitaries, including U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Gov. Chris Gregoire, Congressman Norm Dicks and Washington State Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond.
“With today’s opening, pedestrians and cars can enjoy and navigate Bremerton’s downtown in a much better way by removing congestion and improving safety in the heart of our city,” said Congressman Dicks, who sought the federal funds for the tunnel project.
Tri-State Construction, Inc. built the $54 million federally funded project, which broke ground July 6, 2007 – exactly two years before opening day.
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July open houses, meetings and events
14, Tuesday, 4 - 7 p.m., open house, I-90 over Snoqualmie Pass - Easton: WSDOT staff will provide information on upcoming I-90 construction projects and the affect on travel east of Snoqualmie Pass. Location: Easton Community School, Multi-purpose Room, 1893 Railroad Street, Easton.
14 & 15, Tuesday & Wednesday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., monthly meeting, Washington State Transportation Commission - Olympia: The Washington State Transportation Commission provides a public forum for transportation policy development. As the state tolling authority, the Commission sets tolls for state highways and bridges and fares for Washington State Ferries. Location: Transportation Building, Commission Board Room, 310 Maple Park Avenue SE, Olympia.
15, Wednesday, 5 - 8 p.m., open house, US 395 North Spokane Corridor - Spokane: WSDOT's project team will hold an open house to update the community on current construction, upcoming projects, first sections to open to traffic and future section designs for the North Spokane Corridor. Location: Rogers High School, 1622 E. Wellesley Avenue, Spokane.
16, Tuesday, 10 - 11 a.m., Ribbon cutting, SR 20 - I-5 to Fredonia Interchange - Burlington: WSDOT is holding ribbon-cutting event to celebrate completion of the SR 20, I-5 to Fredonia Additional Lanes project. Crews are ready to wrap-up this two-year project, open new lanes and turn on the new signal. Location: Near the I-5 and SR 20 interchange in Burlington.
16, Tuesday, 4 - 7 p.m., open house, I-90 over Snoqualmie Pass - Cle Elum: WSDOT staff will provide information on upcoming I-90 construction projects and the affect on travel east of Snoqualmie Pass. Location: Cle Elum Roslyn Elementary, Multi-purpose Room, 2696 State Route 903, Cle Elum.
For more details, please visit the WSDOT Calendar of Events.
Express Lane Archive
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