Date:  Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Contact: Brenden Clarke, WSDOT Project Engineer, 360-874-3010
              Jamie Swift, WSDOT Communications, 360-507-4261

PORT ORCHARD – A Kitsap County safety project may cause some slowdowns Tuesday, March 24 while crews set girders for new State Route 16 bridges.

No lane restrictions are needed for this work, but the sight of a 300-ton crane lifting 75-foot-long, 50-ton concrete girders could cause drivers to slow down and take a peek.

“A few people get distracted and that’s all it takes to produce a slowdown and safety concerns,” said WSDOT Olympic Region Administrator Kevin Dayton. “We want drivers to do their best to stay focused on the road and travel safely through the work zone.”

Those who want a close-up look at the girder-setting operation can visit the project Web site, where we’ll post pictures and a video clip Tuesday afternoon.

The girder-setting work – scheduled for 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. – pushes the project past the 50-percent-complete mark and keeps it on pace for completion by the end of the year.

The SR 16 Burley Olalla Interchange project improves safety by eliminating the last at-grade SR 16 intersection in which vehicles are allowed to cross the median. New highway bridges will carry about 42,000 cars a day over Burley Olalla Road.

This $16.3 million construction project, which supports about 160 jobs, broke ground in July 2008. The original schedule pointed to a fall 2010 completion, but contractor Ceccanti, Inc. of Tacoma worked with the WSDOT project team to rearrange the order of work and shave nearly a year off the construction schedule.

Project Web site: www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/sr16/burleyolalla/

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