A Weekly Summary of WSDOT News and Activities
Washington Jobs Now - I-405 closed in Renton July 10-11 to remove old Benson Road Bridge
Photo: Crews are preparing to remove the old Benson Bridge. The new bridge, seen in the background with the green railing, is already carrying traffic across I-405.
Renton drivers are using the new Benson Road S. Bridge built over I-405 as a part of the Renton Stage 2 Widening project. Now it’s time to remove the old bridge to accommodate new lanes on I-405.
Removing the old bridge means crews will completely close I-405 between SR 167 and the Maple Valley Highway (SR 169) in Renton for 33 hours beginning at 2 a.m. on July 10 and wrapping up at 11 a.m. on July 11.
Drivers should prepare to avoid the area using detours. For the safety of the workers and traveling public, the full closure of I-405 is necessary because traffic cannot pass underneath the bridge while crews tear it down. During the full closure, crews will perform multiple construction-related items. This reduces the number of additional closures needed and inconvenience to drivers.
In addition, drivers should:
- Avoid I-405 by taking alternate routes such as I-5, SR 520 and I-90.
- Allow extra time for travel.
- Travel before 10 a.m. and after 7 p.m.
- Plan ahead and use real-time traffic tools.
As part of the Renton Stage 2 project, crews will add capacity on I-405 to help traffic flow and improve freeway access by:
- Adding a new lane in each direction on I-405 from SR 167 to SR 169.
- Reconstructing the Benson Road S. Bridge over I-405.
- Building a new half-diamond interchange at Talbot Road that helps reduce congestion at nearby interchanges with SR 167 and the Maple Valley Highway. The new interchange includes an on-ramp from Talbot Road to northbound I-405 and an off-ramp from southbound I-405 to SR 515.
The project also compliments the improvements of the I-405, I-5 to SR 169 Stage 1 - Widening project. That project added a lane in each direction of I-405 between I-5 and SR 167 and a lane to southbound SR 167 between I-405 and SW 41st Street.
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Maintenance & Operations Feature - Inspecting highway culverts
Photo: WSDOT employee Kevin Perkins demonstrates how the ROVVER works to Walid, who attended the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day on June 24.
Just like the pipes under your sink, culverts are an important part of WSDOT’s under roadway plumbing system. When culverts become damaged or get clogged, it takes a bit more than Drano to fix them.
To fix or replace these culverts can range from as little as $2,500 to as much as $1 million. Inspecting culverts can keep those maintenance costs down. To closely inspect culverts, our maintenance crews use a special camera mounted to a remote-controlled, wheeled device. This device, named ROVVER, transmits a live feed from inside a culvert.
About ROVVER:
- Camera lens is 9 inches in diameter
- The device is approximately 12 inches wide
- 6-wheel drive motor
- Waterproof for humid, damp and underwater environments
- Can inspect pipes as small as 12 inches in diameter and retrieve information from distances up to 660 feet
- Weights 51 pounds
- Total cost of equipment - $81,085
WSDOT maintains approximately 60,000 state highway culverts. They are typically made of steel or concrete and the diameters range from 12 inches to 20 feet. The average lifespan for culverts is usually 30 years; however, many of our highway culverts were installed 40 or more years ago.
Maintenance crews inspect culverts at least twice a year, in late spring/early summer and again in fall/early winter, depending on weather conditions. By using the culvert inventory system, we update each entry with photos and documentation of the culvert’s condition. Aging culverts are a common problem nationwide, and as time goes on, we’re working to upgrade and protect our aging infrastructure.
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Update of projects under way
SR 520 Redmond - WSDOT opened a new lane of westbound SR 520 in Redmond on June 28, in time for the Monday morning commute. Crews moved barrier and re-striped the roadway to open the new westbound lane between SR 202 and West Lake Sammamish Parkway. This is another major milestone in the project to widen SR 520 in Redmond. A newly rebuilt off-ramp to West Lake Sammamish Parkway was also opened on the morning of June 28. These improvements are expected to increase morning commute speeds, eliminate a chronic congestion chokepoint and reduce sideswipe collisions. PCL Construction crews will now shift their focus to the eastbound lanes and ramps. When the SR 520 widening project is wrapped up later this year, drivers will have a new HOV lane and a merge lane in each direction of SR 520 between SR 202 and West Lake Sammamish Parkway.
SR 14 Stevenson - WSDOT’s contractor, Hi-Tech Rockfall Construction Inc., wrapped up rock scaling and will complete most of the remaining work on the SR 14 Rockfall Mitigation project using single-lane closures. Drivers should expect 20-minute delays between the hours of 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. For the Fourth of July weekend, work will conclude by noon, July 2 and resume on July 6. Crews finished scaling work near Dog Mountain more quickly than expected. Mechanical scaling using an excavator cleared the bulk of loose rock and debris, leaving less rock to clear through labor-intensive hand scaling. The project helps improve safety on SR 14 by removing loose rock, unstable soil, trees and other debris from slopes above the highway. The project is funded through federal highway improvement dollars and is on track for completion by September 2.
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Announcements
Nation’s first electric highway
Washington’s electric vehicle infrastructure efforts are getting a boost from $1.32 million in Federal Recovery Act funding. Washington State’s transportation and commerce departments are teaming up to implement the nation’s first “electric highway,” an initial network of public access electric vehicle (EV) recharging locations along I-5. Once implemented, Washington will have the first border to border highway to offer fast charge technology. The infrastructure will enable electric vehicle drivers to travel the length of the state along the 276 miles of I-5 between Washington’s borders with Oregon and Canada. As many as 300,000 electric vehicles are anticipated on Washington roads within the next 10 years.
Washington’s electric highway connects Puget Sound electric vehicle drivers with Portland and other west coast communities participating in the EV Project, a $230 million project to deploy a total of 4,700 electric vehicles and nearly 15,000 charge stations in five states (Oregon, Washington, California, Arizona and Tennessee) and the District of Columbia. The first charging sites will be placed along I-5 north of Everett and south of Centralia. The work on I-5 will be complemented with deployments along I-90 to include Central Washington.
Major construction to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct is underway
State and local officials, labor leaders, local businesses and members of the public gathered on June 29 to break ground on construction to replace the southern mile of the seismically vulnerable Alaskan Way Viaduct. In the SR 99 S. Holgate to S. King Viaduct Replacement project, crews will demolish the viaduct through the SODO neighborhood and replace it with a side-by-side roadway that will meet today’s standards for earthquake resistance, traffic flow, safety, and environmental protection.
WSDOT awarded the construction contract for the project to Skanska USA Civil, based in Riverside, California. Skanska submitted the low bid of $114.5 million. The bid was 25 percent less than WSDOT’s $152.6 million estimate.
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July events and meetings
8, Thursday, noon – 1 p.m., Celebration, US 12 Frenchtown to Walla Walla project – Walla Walla: The US 12 Coalition and WSDOT are co-hosting a "Celebration Of Progress" for the completion of the latest project on the US 12 corridor from the Tri-Cities to Walla Walla. Location: at the project site between the two roundabouts at the US 12/Myra Road interchange, Walla Walla.
8, Thursday, 6 – 7:30 p.m., Presentation, SR 520 Tolling – Lake Forest Park: WSDOT’s Toll Division will provide an update on SR 520 tolling and Good To Go! to the city of Lake Forest Park City Council. Location: 17425 Ballinger Way NE, Lake Forest Park.
20, Tuesday, 7:30 - 10 p.m., Presentation, SR 520 Tolling – Redmond: WSDOT’s Toll Division will provide an update on SR 520 tolling to the city of Redmond City Council. Location: Redmond City Hall Council Chambers, 15670 NE 85th Street, Redmond.
Express Lane Archive
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