Date:  Friday, May 08, 2009

Contact: Bronlea Mishler, WSDOT communications, 360-757-5947

Edition 82, May 8, 2009
• Weekend-long lane closure on I-5 already under way
• A little bit of night work on I-5 off-ramp
• Roundabout wrap-up: What you can expect next week


Weekend-long lane closure on I-5 already under way
Planning to hit the highways this Mother’s Day weekend? You’ll want to plan ahead for a weekend-long lane closure on I-5 in Bellingham.

Crews closed the left lane of southbound I-5 near the Northwest Avenue bridge (milepost 257) at approximately 8 p.m. last night (May 7), and will reopen it by 5:30 a.m. Monday, May 11. The closure started one day early after crews discovered a small void under a bridge approach panel near the Northwest Avenue bridge. To keep the road safe for drivers, crews decided to close the left lane early.

We are expecting delays, so it might be a good idea to plan an alternate route around the area if you can.


A little bit of night work on I-5 off-ramp
Remember that island we reconstructed at the end of the northbound I-5 off-ramp to SR 539 (Guide Meridian)? Well, the big construction part is done. Now we have to finish up the striping.

We’ll close the off-ramp from 9 p.m. tonight (May 8) to 5 a.m. Saturday, May 9. It shouldn’t cause too many delays for drivers. If you need to access the Guide, you can take exit 256B instead, and turn right onto Bellis Fair Parkway. That’ll send you straight back to the Guide.


Roundabout wrap-up: What you can expect next week
It’s been a challenging week at the Ten Mile roundabout on SR 539. On Saturday night, a semi driver didn’t notice our construction zone and plowed through the center of the not-quite-finished roundabout at a high rate of speed, knocking out a power pole and landing in one of our retention ponds.

Needless to say, it was frustrating weekend for everyone: The folks with fried electronics and no power, the utility crews working overtime to put up a new power pole, and our construction crews assessing the damage to the roundabout.

On top of that, the rain and wind this week put a bit of a cramp on our paving and striping schedule. We were hoping to have the roundabout open Thursday morning, but the weather just wouldn’t cooperate. Our plan now is to finish up the paving and installing signs this weekend, stripe the roundabout Monday night, and officially open the roundabout early Tuesday morning, May 12. (So keep your fingers crossed for some nice weather.)

The silver lining here is that you’ve got an extra couple days to brush up on your roundabout driving skills. We’ve got our “how to drive a roundabout” video available on YouTube, DVD copies at local libraries, and (if you watch long enough) playing about once an hour or so on BTV channel 10.

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