Project of the Week - The Trees are Coming Back to SR 18 Near Maple Valley
A telescoping forklift delivers racks of plants to the slope above westbound SR 18 in King County. Crews unload the plants and place them in pre-dug holes. |
Just five years ago a ride on SR 18 east of Maple Valley was dramatically different than it is today. Five years ago much of the two-lane highway was bordered by thick stands of evergreen trees. But it was also a congested highway with too many severe collisions. So WSDOT widened the highway to four lanes, added a median, replaced culverts with bridges and built dozens of acres of detention pond and wetland mitigations.
Widening the highway required clearing thousands of trees and shrubs along the three-and-a-half miles of
SR 18 between Maple Valley and Issaquah Hobart Road. Now WSDOT is restoring more than 63 acres of SR 18 roadside affected by the widening project. In November crews started planting the first of more than 60,000 native trees and shrubs. Work started alongside the westbound lanes and crews working for contractor Buckley Nursery are quickly transforming the landscape. Westbound roadside planting is nearly done and crews will soon start planting alongside the eastbound lanes. The planting will be finished in mid-January, which is about a month ahead according to WSDOT Landscape Architecture Chief Inspector Stephanie Shelton.
Shelton said the mix of trees and shrubs matches what was there prior to the widening. About 80 percent of the mix is evergreen conifers such as Douglas Firs, Western Red Cedars and Western Hemlocks. Crews are also planting deciduous trees, including Pacific Dogwoods, Serviceberries and Vine Maples. Shrubs in the planting mix include Red-osier Dogwoods, Tall Oregon Grapes and Red Flowering Currants.
"We have a commitment when we remove 100 acres of trees during construction to restore that to its former state, while also considering driver safety," Shelton said.
The trees and shrubs are small now, between six and 24 inches high, but Buckley Nursery crews will tend to them for three years to ensure they take root and grow. As they mature the plants and shrubs will help prevent erosion, improve water water quality, restore the rural character of the roadside, provide a buffer between the highway and its neighbors, and serve as wildlife habitat and corridors.
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Incident of the Week - Winter Storm and Flooding Causes Multiple Highway Closures
One of four vehicles caught in a series of avalanches on US 2 near Leavenworth on Dec. 3. |
The week of December 3 state highways took a one, two, three punch as Mother Nature showed her strength. Early in the week, rain falling on top two feet of new snow shut down Interstate 5 in Lewis County and made travel treacherous on US 2 in the Tumwater Canyon near Leavenworth. An astounding 58 avalanches slammed down onto that 10 miles of US 2, east of Leavenworth starting around 2 a.m. Monday, December 3. By 4:30 a.m. WSDOT Maintenance crews had recused the drivers of three semi trucks and a state trooper, but their vehicles would stay put until the avalanche activity stabilized. By 4 p.m., US 2 through Tumwater Canyon was cleared, treated and opened for traffic.
WSDOT Maintenance crews clear an avalanche from I-90 at Snoqualmie Pass. |
During the same period, Snoqualmie Pass experienced a number of controlled and natural avalanches. Following a weekend of plowing and deicing efforts, on Monday crews were having to contend with both avalanches and standing water on I-90. At one point, the westbound lanes were closed for three and one-half hours after a snow slide came down on its own near Franklin Falls, backing up traffic as far as Ellensburg.
On Washington's coast, high winds were just the start of troubles for many Olympic Peninsula communities, which endured blocked roads due to falling trees and torrential rain, followed by flooding and landslides. Severe weather caused highway closures in 70 locations throughout western Washington. One of the most significant closures was a 20-mile stretch of I-5 through Lewis County due to flooding. I-5 was closed between Rochester and Grand Mound on Monday, December 3, requiring long detours for the 54,000 vehicles that travel this section of freeway daily. After crews breached a dike, allowing water to recede more quickly, I-5 reopened to all traffic at 11:45 a.m., Friday, December 7.
A section of I-5 in Chehalis under several feet water at Exit 77 on Tuesday, December 4. |
WSDOT crews worked around the clock all week, and as of Friday, December 7, had addressed highway damage at 62 locations and were still working to repair weather-damaged highways, including multiple locations along US 101 in the Skokomish River/Potlatch vicinity, SR 96 (Seattle Hill Road) between SR 9 and I-5 in Snohomish County and multiple locations on SR 6 in Pacific and Lewis counties.
The transportation system was not the only system affected during the storm. WSDOT's Web site experienced periodic outages on Monday due a high number of online visitors and input overload as WSDOT staff attempted to post storm-related information. We have planned for high customer volumes, but did not anticipate the need for so many WSDOT staff to post incident entries into the system at the one time. The Web site received 11 million page views on Monday, with 16,000 entries into WSDOT's incident and traveler alert system. The combined activity overwhelmed our computer servers and caused a domino effect across the system, shutting down Web access, and our ability to update 5-1-1 travel information and travel alerts. We restored limited Web access within an hour of the first outage by posting text pages with detailed information. Full Web access was restored by 4:30 p.m.
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Update of Projects Under Way
SR 20 Deception Pass - Work to replace the unique guardrail on SR 20 near Deception Pass continues along the shoulder. On Monday night, December 10, we will close one lane to paint new lane markings north of Rosario Road near Pass Lake. This work requires dry pavement and will be rescheduled for later in the week if it rains.
SR 167 Renton - Crews working for WSDOT will close the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane between Interstate 405 and SR 516 in Kent from 11:59 p.m., Friday, Dec. 7, to 11 a.m., Monday, Dec. 10. During the closure crews will install 20,000 feet of fiber optic cable for the SR 167 HOT Lanes Pilot Project. The fiber optic cable will provide communications for HOT lanes’ equipment, such as the signs that will display toll rates and the sensors that will read windshield-mounted transponders in vehicles using the HOT lanes. The SR 167 HOT Lanes Pilot Project will allow solo drivers to pay a toll to use the HOV lanes.
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Announcements
Trucks Cross Border Faster with New Lane
On December 5, WSDOT and First Gentleman Mike Gregoire, on behalf of Governor Gregoire, opened a new designated truck lane on SR 543 that improves freight mobility, and celebrated finishing construction six months ahead of schedule. Crews transformed SR 543 from a narrow and congested two-lane road into a five-lane highway with designated lanes for cars and trucks, and a new overpass. The new designated FAST (Free and Secure Trade) lane allows pre-approved commercial drivers to skip long lines and quickly cross the border, saving time and money.
More than 700,000 trucks use SR 543 every year, and it is estimated that before the improvements were made, congestion cost trucking companies $22 million annually. Trucks routinely backed up from the border more than a mile down the highway.
While the project is six months ahead of schedule, it cost an additional $4 million to build. The total project cost is $49 million, which includes money for design, right of way and construction. The 2003 Legislature advanced funding to complete this project prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics in British Columbia.
North Cascades Highway Closed for the Season
The SR 20 North Cascades Highway officially closed for the season this week. WSDOT crews closed it temporarily November 30 because of forecasts for heavy snow, high winds and rain. When crews went back to check the highway on Tuesday, December 4, they knew conditions were too hazardous to reopen it to traffic.
SR 20 is closed seven miles east of Diablo Dam and nine miles west of Mazama. The North Cascades Highway usually closes between Thanksgiving and mid December, and opens in late April or early May.
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December Open Houses, Meetings and Events
10, Monday, 11 a.m., Ribbon Cutting, Travel Washington Grape Line - Walla Walla: Intercity bus service is about to be restored to southeast Washington from Walla Walla to Pasco and beyond. WSDOT and local officials are celebrating the new Grape Line service, which will be the first in a series of new intercity routes using the Travel Washington tradename. Location: 320 W. Main Street, Walla Walla.
11 & 12, Tuesday & Wednesday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monthly Meeting, State Transportation Commission - Olympia: The Washington State Transportation Commission, an independent state agency, provides a public forum for transportation policy development. It reviews and evaluates how the 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. A public comment period is scheduled for Tuesday at 4:45. Location: Transportation Building, Commission Boardroom, 310 Maple Park Avenue SE, Olympia.
For more details, please visit the WSDOT Calendar of Events.
Weekly Report Archive
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