Date:  Thursday, March 11, 2010

Contact: Chad Hancock, WSDOT Traffic Engineer, (360) 905-2240 (Vancouver)
Abbi Russell, WSDOT Communications, (360) 905-2058 (Vancouver)

BRUSH PRAIRIE – WSDOT is installing median curbing on Monday, March 15 to improve safety on SR 503 near Prairie High School (milepost 2.8). School traffic will no longer be able to make left turns across SR 503, and the new traffic signal on NE 119th Street will be the primary access point starting Monday afternoon.

Crews will start installation at 9 a.m. on Monday, March 15 to avoid impacting Monday morning school traffic. They will place and anchor 735 feet of low curbing in the median of SR 503 in front of the school and are scheduled to complete work by 4 p.m. Monday.

Twenty-five collisions occurred on SR 503 in front of Prairie High School between 2004 and 2008. Fourteen of those resulted from left turns into or out of the school parking lot. Median curbing will prevent left turns across SR 503, which is a 40 mph, four-lane highway with an average traffic count of 27,000 vehicles per day.

WSDOT limits left turns along SR 503 to provide for driver safety and smooth traffic flow on the corridor. Median treatments, including low curbing and concrete barrier, have been constructed in various locations along the corridor since the early 1990s.

Commercial development at the northwest corner of SR 503 and NE 119th Street in 2009 required mitigation measures to improve safety and traffic flow. Measures included median curbing on SR 503 and a new traffic signal on NE 119th Street. The new signal has been operational since late February.

The high school’s old access road on NE 119th Street was realigned to take advantage of increased safety at the traffic signal.

For more information on median barrier and WSDOT’s commitment to safety, please visit http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/maintenance/barriers.

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WSDOT keeps people, businesses and the economy moving by operating and improving the state's transportation systems. To learn more about what we're doing, go to www.wsdot.wa.gov/news for pictures, videos, news and blogs. Real time traffic information is available at www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic or by dialing 5-1-1.

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