Date:  Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Contact: Gordon Roycroft, WSDOT Deputy Program Director, 360-709-8130
              Jamie Swift, WSDOT Communications, 360-357-2703

OLYMPIA – WSDOT awarded a $31.0 million contract this week to Bellevue-based Tri-State Construction, Inc. to extend the Interstate 5 HOV network south from King County.

This two-year project adds carpool lanes on northbound and southbound I-5 from the King County line to the Port of Tacoma Road interchange in Fife, about three miles in each direction. Work begins later this summer.

Construction, funded in part by the 2003 gas tax package, includes more than $35 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). An estimated 130 jobs are supported by the I-5 Port of Tacoma Road Interchange to King County Line HOV project.

“The federal stimulus dollars have allowed us to advance our Pierce County HOV construction, which enhances the movement of people and goods, and help get our economy back on track by putting people to work,” said Washington State Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond. “We continue to live up to our end of the bargain by having our projects and our state’s contractors able to take full advantage of the ARRA funds.”

Tri-State’s bid amount of $31,095,383.05 is about 25 percent below estimated cost, continuing a trend directly linked to tough economic times. While the low bids allow Washington state to deliver more highway projects with federal stimulus dollars, they also reinforce how important these projects are for getting people back to work.

WSDOT’s Tacoma/Pierce County HOV Program continues to piece together a series of improvement projects that include the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge, the widening and HOV lanes on State Route 16, the new northbound I-5 collector-distributor lanes between the Tacoma Mall and Tacoma Dome, and the ongoing work to replace the Nalley Valley Viaduct.

The full congestion-relief and safety benefits of these projects will not be fully realized until all the connecting projects are complete. More information about the program can be found at http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/piercecountyhov/.

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