Date:  Monday, April 20, 2009

Contact: Bronlea Mishler, WSDOT Communications, 360-757-5947 (Burlington)
Marco Foster, Engineering Manager, 360-757-5991 (Burlington)

MOUNT VERNON – Drivers who regularly use the SR 538/Riverside Drive intersection will need to plan an alternate route starting the evening of May 3.

Crews will completely close the intersection for one week – 9 p.m. Sunday, May 3, to 6 a.m. Monday, May 11 – as they replace the current asphalt road surface with more durable, longer-lasting concrete. This work is weather-dependent and may be rescheduled in the event of rain.

This $2.7 million project will help support more than 27 local workers and several local construction companies.

Detour signs will be posted in advance along Riverside Drive and SR 538 (College Way) to direct drivers around the closure. Signed detours will direct traffic north around the intersection via Urban Avenue, Commercial and Market streets. Drivers will use 18th and Fir streets and Freeway Drive to detour south around the closure.

Drivers will still have access to all businesses near the intersection. For more details on detour routes and business access, see our maps on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/wsdot/sets/72157616809468328/  

The Riverside Drive improvements are the first part of a project that also includes repaving a five-mile stretch of SR 536 and a half-mile of SR 538 in Mount Vernon. Construction at all three locations is expected to be complete by fall 2009.

For more information about this project, visit the project Web page at www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR536/SR538Paving.

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