Date:  Friday, August 20, 2010

Contact: Dustin Terpening, Communications, 360-757-5997 (Burlington)
Chris Damitio, Project Engineer, 360-788-7403 (Bellingham)

BLAINE – The reopening of southbound I-5 at D Street in Blaine has been postponed until next week after the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) discovered problems beneath the roadway requiring more work and time to repair than anticipated.

The interstate was closed Aug. 9 and scheduled to reopen 12 days later for crews to repave the I-5 bridge over D Street and make the ride smoother for drivers. Crews plan to reopen I-5 Tuesday evening, Aug. 24, provided the weather cooperates.

During the closure, crews discovered that the south end of the bridge where the roadway butts up against the bridge was in significantly worse shape than anticipated, and additional equipment, materials and time were needed to repair the bridge.

“What was busted was the bridge ‘seat,’ which supports the roadway and helps keep the transition across the bridge smooth for drivers,” said WSDOT project engineer Chris Damitio. “Unfortunately, we had no way of knowing how bad it was until we dug into it because it was buried.”

Traffic continues to flow smoothly with less than five-minute delays on the detour route. Drivers are bypassing the closure via the D Street interchange – down the off-ramp, through the roundabout and then back onto I-5 via the on-ramp.

The bridge work is a continuation of the $2.8 million project that recently added two new roundabouts at the I-5/D Street interchange. The work is fully funded by the federal government and complements improvements the General Service Administration made at the I-5, Peace Arch border crossing.

For more project details, visit the Web page www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/I5/blaineinterchange/.  

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