A Weekly Summary of WSDOT News and Activities
Washington Jobs Now - Crews stay busy in Clark County building a new SR 501 bridge over I-5
Crews are drilling in the I-5 median where the support column for the new SR 501 bridge will go. |
Stage 1 of the
ARRA -funded
I-5, SR 501 Ridgefield Interchange project is well under way. Crews are starting to drill large shafts deep into the middle of the interstate that will anchor the new SR 501 bridge. Once finished with the shafts in the median, crews will begin working on another set of shafts that will support the bridge abutments on each side of the interstate. Drilling shafts is the first step in the process of building the bridge from the ground up.
At 80 feet deep, each shaft could hold two school buses stacked upright, end-to-end. Giant rebar cages, used to reinforce the drilled shaft, are being assembled on site; they are lifted by a crane and lowered into each hole after it is drilled. After the cages are in place, concrete will be poured into the shafts. Each shaft will require nine full concrete trucks to fill. The drilled shafts will be used to support the concrete pier columns and abutment walls. Drivers will start to see all of this take shape this winter. Then in the spring, steel girders will be brought in and lowered into place, over each direction of I-5.
Like the SR 502 interchange bridge a few miles to the south, the new SR 501 bridge will be built with prestressed, pre-cast concrete girders. These girders are completely manufactured at a concrete yard in Tacoma and are ready to install when they are transported to the construction site. This speeds up the process, provides a better quality product, minimizes the work crews have to do over I-5, minimizing impacts to drivers.
After all of the girders are set, crews will form the bridge deck, install reinforcement mats made of rebar, and pour concrete to finish the bridge. The wider, safer rebuilt interchange is expected to be complete in late 2011 or early 2012.
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Maintenance & Operations feature - WSDOT Maintenance employee offers crash victim assistance and warmth
WSDOT IRT and Maintenance staff assisted the driver of this vehicle after she ran off the road on Stevens Pass and ended up in Nason Creek, about 150 feet below the highway. |
When a driver on US 2 Stevens Pass left the roadway and ended up 150 feet down a bank in Nason Creek, she had the good fortune of having experienced help nearby. The incident happened approximately 7.5 miles east of the Stevens Pass summit, at about 7:30 a.m. on Dec. 3.
Workers from Stevens Pass ski area were behind the vehicle when it went off the road. They alerted Washington State Patrol and the WSDOT Maintenance facility at Berne Camp of the crash. Maintenance Tech Curt Neubert drove the two miles to the scene to see how he could help. After ski patrol members assisted in getting the shaken woman out of the car and up the hillside, Neubert sat with her in his warm pickup truck until the ambulance arrived to take her to Leavenworth to be checked for injuries.
WSDOT's Incident Response Team (IRT) member, Jeff Spencer had just come on duty in Leavenworth when he got the call to assist and arrived just after 8 a.m. He remained on the scene to provide traffic control while the tow operator struggled with the challenge of removing the car from the creek and pulling it up the bank.
In the winter months, help on Stevens Pass is never far away. WSDOT's IRT patrols Stevens Pass between Leavenworth and Scenic seven days a week, during the ski area's hours of operations when more drivers are on the road. Whether assisting stranded motorist, or responding to a collision, snowstorm, or disaster, the IRT's mission is to work in partnership with the Washington State Patrol and other responders to quickly clear roads and help drivers.
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Update of projects under way
SR 4 Cowlitz and Wahkiakum counties - Crews have nearly completed the SR 4 – Skamokawa to Coal Creek Road Paving and Guardrail project. The $6.5 million project improves safety along SR 4 between Skamokawa and Coal Creek Road (mile post 27.5 to 55) with new guardrail, cable barrier and enhanced bridge railings. This project replaced old pavement by laying approximately 43,000 tons of fresh asphalt. WSDOT partnered with Wahkiakum County to pave West Little Island and Beaver Creek roads in the project area. Paving these two roads allowed crews to repair ruts and cracks in the pavement, preserve and enhance the condition of the roadways and improve safety for all drivers. Minor guardrail work near River View Road (mile post 38) has been delayed due to a shortage in materials and will be completed in January.
SR 520 Bellevue and Redmond - SR 520 will be closed up to 20 times in December as continue work on several projects. Drivers will need to plan ahead before they take SR 520 throughout December, especially at night. Construction on three projects is ramping up along the corridor between Redmond and Seattle. WSDOT plans to close lanes and ramps, and conduct rolling slowdowns.
SR 539 Lynden - Crews opened the fourth and final roundabout at the Guide Meridian (SR 539)/River Road intersection on Dec. 7, despite nearly a month of wind, rain and cold temperatures. The series of four roundabouts on the Guide is expected to improve safety and relieve congestion for the 15,000 drivers who use the highway daily. WSDOT has shifted the River Road intersection to the north, further from the Nooksack River Bridge, to improve sight distance and safety for drivers. The roundabout will open in a temporary one-lane configuration while crews finish building the new Nooksack River Bridge to the south. Crews will open the roundabout to its final, two-lane configuration after the bridge is complete early next year. Other roundabouts are at Ten Mile Road, Pole Road and at Wiser Lake Road. These roundabouts are part of a larger $106.7 million project that will transform the Guide Meridian into a safer and less congested four-lane divided highway between Ten Mile Road and Lynden.
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Announcements
WSDOT reduces speed limit on US 12 in east Lewis County
A request by concerned citizens and a subsequent traffic study has prompted WSDOT to reduce the speed limit of a two-mile section of US 12 east of Randle. The reduction went into place December 10, and reduces the speed limit from 55 mph to 45 mph between SR 131 and Young/Joerk Road (mile posts 115.25 to 117.42). The speed limit revision will help improve safety along this stretch of US 12, which supports freight and commercial traffic as well as White Pass Schools.
New I-5 signs help Puget Sound drivers escape heavy traffic
Drivers have a new tool to help them avoid traffic backups on I-5. Three new electronic travel-time signs are up and running on northbound I-5 south of the I-405 interchange and on southbound I-5 in Mill Creek. The signs provide real-time travel time information that helps drivers choose the fastest route to the Eastside. This $800,000 project is an element of WSDOT’s congestion relief program, Moving Washington , and will help keep drivers informed about backups and help manage traffic during SR 99’s Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement . Crews installed two new travel time signs on northbound I-5 at the South 216th Street overpass near SeaTac and just south of the I-405 interchange in Tukwila. They installed a third sign on southbound I-5 near SR 96 in Mill Creek.
64-car Ferry Class Naming Contest
At the Governor’s suggestion, WSDOT's Ferries Division (WSF) is conducting a contest with fourth grade students from Chimacum, Port Townsend and Whidbey Island to name the new 64-Car Ferry Class. The first new ferry was recently named Chetzemoka by the Washington State Transportation Commission at the suggestion of the Port Townsend community. However, the Chetzemoka and the two additional 64-car ferries to be built still need a class name, much like the 202-car Tacoma, Wenatchee and Puyallup ferries which are part of the “Jumbo Mark II Class.” After consulting with school administrators, fourth graders were selected to participate because they are studying Washington State History. Submissions are due from the schools in mid-December. A panel from the Governor’s Office, WSDOT and the communities will select a winner by mid-January.
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December open houses, meetings and events
14, Monday 1 - 4 p.m., Executive order 09-05 (section 2) Working Group Meeting - Seattle: First meeting to discuss WSDOT, Regional Transportation Planning Organizations (RTPOs), Department of Ecology and Commerce, local governments, businesses and environmental representatives plans to come up with strategies to reduce the transportation sector's effect on climate change. Location: Sound Transit's Ruth Fisher Board Room - Union Station, 401 S. Jackson St., Seattle, WA 98104.
UPDATE: This event has been rescheduled for Friday, December 18. The time and location remain the same.
15, Tuesday, 1 - 3 p.m., Groundbreaking, I-5, SR 432 Talley Way Interchange - Kelso: WSDOT along with the communities of Kelso and Longview will break ground on the reconstruction project for the I-5, SR 432 Talley Way interchange . This project will improve the I-5 interchange at SR 432 (Exit 36), and the adjacent SR 432 interchange at Talley Way. Reconstructing these interchanges will improve safety and reduce existing and future congestion on this section of SR 432, improve on substandard design conditions, and address weaving problems at both interchanges. Location: 2616 Coweeman Business Park Drive, Kelso.
15 & 16, Tuesday and Wednesday, 9 a.m - 5 p.m., regular meeting, Washington State Transportation Commission - Olympia: The State Transportation Commission will hold its regular monthly meeting. The Commission provides a public forum for transportation policy development. It reviews and evaluates how the entire transportation system works across the state and issues the state’s 20-year Transportation Plan. As the State Tolling Authority, the Commission sets tolls for state highways and bridges and fares for Washington State Ferries. Location: Transportation Building, 310 Maple Park Ave. SE, Olympia, WA.
16, Wednesday, 5 - 7 p.m., public hearing and open house, SR 520 Eastside Transit and HOV Project - Bellevue: WSDOT and the Federal Highway Administration is holding a public hearing and open house to take comments on the environmental assessment for this project. The SR 520 Eastside Transit and HOV Project aims to improve transit and HOV travel times in rapidly growing areas along the SR 520 corridor east of Lake Washington. The environmental analysis shows how the project would affect the environment and communities, including Bellevue, Kirkland, Medina, Clyde Hill, Hunts Point, Yarrow Point and Redmond. WSDOT and the Federal Highways Administration are completing the necessary environmental documentation in order to proceed with construction. Location: Chinook Middle School, 2001 98th Ave. NE, Bellevue.
Express Lane Archive
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