Date:  Thursday, November 06, 2008

Contact: Brenden Clarke, WSDOT Project Engineer, 360-874-3010
             Emily Pace, WSDOT Communications, 360-357-2716

PORT ORCHARD – Drivers traveling west on SR 16 this weekend should leave early and stay late to avoid potential backups.

Westbound SR 16 in Kitsap County will be reduced to a single-lane while crews complete work on a detour route as part of an ongoing interchange construction project at Burley Olalla Road.

Crews restrict westbound SR 16 to one lane beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 8. This work was originally scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Friday, but the start-time has been adjusted due to weather reports that call for rain. All westbound lanes are scheduled to re-open by noon Monday, Nov. 10.

Drivers should expect delays between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday when traffic volumes are the highest. WSDOT recommends motorists plan ahead, leave plenty of time to get to your destinations and travel early or late in the day.

The closure allows crews to pave a temporary detour route, which will carry SR 16 mainline traffic during construction of new bridges over Burley Olalla Road. After the westbound detour is paved, traffic will shift onto the detour and the speed limit will drop to 40 mph.

The detour and speed-limit reduction remains in place until the new SR 16 bridges are complete. Crews will pave the detour for eastbound SR 16 from 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 12, through 6 a.m. Monday, Dec. 15. This work also requires reducing SR 16 to a single lane.

This safety project eliminates the last at-grade intersection on SR 16 where traffic crosses the median. When complete in fall 2010, two new bridges will carry SR 16 traffic over Burley Olalla Road. Contractor Ceccanti, Inc. began construction in July.

WSDOT reminds motorists to “Give ‘em a Brake” by slowing down and paying extra attention when driving through a work zone.

For more information about the $24.3 million SR 16 at Burley Olalla Road interchange project visit www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR16/BurleyOlalla/.

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