A Weekly Summary of WSDOT News and Activities
Project of the Week – Join us at an open house for the SR 520 Pontoon Construction Project
WSDOT is evaluating three possible sites for SR 520 pontoon construction in Grays Harbor County. View larger image |
WSDOT is evaluating three sites for pontoon construction in Grays Harbor County, including a new site in Hoquiam and a new site in Aberdeen. We are moving forward with plans to build new pontoons that could be used to restore the SR 520 floating bridge if it is damaged or destroyed during an earthquake or severe windstorm. The pontoons will be stored until they are needed for the planned SR 520 bridge replacement. WSDOT is preparing an environmental impact statement to evaluate potential effects to the surrounding environment from constructing and storing pontoons.
We are holding a public scoping meeting and open house on Thursday, Jan. 29 to share the latest information about the Pontoon Construction Project. This meeting is an opportunity for the public to provide comments and ask questions about three sites under consideration in Grays Harbor. The meeting will be held:
Thursday, Jan. 29
5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
A short presentation will begin at 6 p.m.
Hoquiam High School Cafeteria
501 West Emerson Avenue
Hoquiam, WA 98550
The public and agency comment period runs from Jan. 15 to Feb. 19. To leave comments or questions, e-mail the project at pontoons@wsdot.wa.gov or visit us online.
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Maintenance & Operations feature - Portion of SR 112 in Clallam County drops six feet
WSDOT Maintenance crews closed SR 112 in Clallam County on January 8 due to sliding. |
Following heavy rain earlier this month, a 500-foot section of SR 112 just west of the town of Joyce buckled and began sliding. WSDOT Maintenance crews closed the roadway the evening of Jan. 8. For several days, crackling and popping could be heard as the earth beneath roadway slipped down the hillside at a rate of an about inch an hour. Two weeks have past since the slide started and while movement has slowed, the ground remains unstable. Huge sections of asphalt are now six feet below the original roadway elevation.
SR 112, a winding, two-lane road adjacent to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, is notoriously slide prone. Every winter, crews expect to deal with water over the roadway and mudslides, but the scale of this slide doesn’t compare to what they usually see.
“This may be the biggest, most active slide we’ve ever experienced on SR 112,” commented Olympic Region Maintenance Manager Don Clotfelter.
Once the slope stabilizes, crews can thoroughly assess the damage and formulate a repair plan. In the meantime, local residents and emergency vehicles headed to Port Angeles contend with a 30 minute detour using SR 113 and US 101.
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Update of projects under way
SR 11 Burlington - Starting Jan. 26, crews will close the SR 11 Chuckanut Drive bridge over I-5 in Burlington for two months for repairs. During the closure crews will demolish and replace the east half of the bridge that was damaged by an over-height truck on I-5 in July 2008. The Chuckanut Drive overpass will remain closed through most of March, and drivers will have to find alternate routes around. Signed detour routes will be in place; however WSDOT is requesting that those familiar with the area plan out their routes now. While the overpass will be closed, the on- and off-ramps at the Chuckanut Drive interchange (exit 231) will remain open during most of construction.
I-405 Bellevue - On Jan. 16, crews opened a new I-405 northbound lane to help ease one of the worst traffic bottlenecks in the state. The new lane begins at 112th Avenue SE and travels north to I-90, an area known for backups during the morning commute. The next step of the project comes on Jan. 26, when crews plan to open a new ramp meter and carpool bypass lane to northbound I-405 from 112th Avenue SE. The ramp meter will evenly distribute vehicles onto the freeway, create gaps for merging traffic and improve safety. The bypass lane will give carpoolers and buses better travel times and help them avoid backups. Traffic engineers will monitor area streets and mainline I-405 and adjust the timing of the meter to avoid traffic jams.
SR 520 Bellevue – On Jan. 20, WSDOT awarded Granite Northwest a contract to repave nearly four miles of SR 520 between I-405 in Bellevue and West Lake Sammamish Parkway in Redmond. As part of the $9.4 million project, crews will also replace crumbling asphalt at the ends of five bridges with new concrete slabs. Starting in March, crews will rebuild the approaches to five bridges on SR 520 between Bellevue and Redmond. They’ll remove deteriorating asphalt and install 10 new concrete slabs to smooth the transition from the asphalt roadway to the concrete bridges. Drivers can expect six to eight weekends of work in March and April when traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction. Crews will also repave both directions of SR 520 between I-405 and West Lake Sammamish Parkway to extend the life of the interstate. The project is scheduled for completion in fall 2009.
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Announcements
WSDOT to ride Victoria Express wave for Hood Canal Bridge Project
WSDOT has contracted with Victoria Express for water shuttle service that WSDOT’s Ferries Division crews will operate between South Point and Lofall when the Hood Canal Bridge closes for six weeks. The public service begins May 1. The free water shuttle will depart the docks in Lofall and South Point every half hour between 4 a.m. and 11 p.m. during the six-week bridge closure. The 149-passenger vessels will have the capability to transport more than 11,000 people daily.
Kitsap, Jefferson and Clallam transit will offer connecting services, transporting travelers from the docks at Lofall and South Point to corresponding park and ride lots in Port Gamble and Shine Pit, as well as communities throughout the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas.
“Dovetailing the water shuttle and transit services like this saves people time and money that they would have spent driving around on US 101,” said Paula Hammond, Secretary of Transportation. “The combined services provide travelers another option in getting to and from the Olympic Peninsula during the closure.”
New traffic camera installed on SR 539 near Lynden
A new traffic camera is now available for drivers who travel SR 539 (Guide Meridian) south of Lynden. The camera, located at the intersection of River Road, just north of the Nooksack River, looks south at SR 539. The camera was installed this winter to highlight key construction areas along the SR 539 widening project. One key area is the new Nooksack River truss bridge. Crews plan to install another camera at the SR 539/SR 544 (Pole Road) intersection, where a roundabout will be built later this year. Once the SR 539 widening project is complete, WSDOT will determine whether enough funding is available to keep the cameras running.
WSDOT Ferries Division sells two passenger-only ferries
On Jan. 16, the Washington State Department of Transportation Ferries Division (WSF) closed the sale of the passenger-only fast ferries Chinook and Snohomish to the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District of Larkspur, California. The total sale price for the two vessels was $4 million.
In 2006, the Washington State Legislature voted to end state funding for passenger-only ferries. In 2007 the Legislature directed WSF to sell the Chinook and Snohomish and deposit the proceeds into a passenger ferry account. The proceeds from the sale will be used to help fund county-run passenger-only ferry service.
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Gray Notebook Highlight - Worker Safety
Preventing employee strain and sprain injuries continues to be a challenge for WSDOT. Sprains and strains made up 56 percent of the total worker injuries reported in the first quarter of fiscal year 2009. These types of injury can be separated into two categories: ergonomics (musculoskeletal disorders and over-exertion injuries) and slip/trip/fall-related. Fifty-six percent of the sprain and strain injuries were related to ergonomics, while 35 percent were caused by slip/trip/falls. The remaining 9 percent were related to vehicle operations. WSDOT has an ergonomics program requiring training of every new employee on risk factors, and every incident that involves an ergonomic injury is investigated. The most effective tool in preventing slip/trip/fall injuries is education so that employees can recognize hazards and apply this knowledge to avoiding these hazards on the job. WSDOT has made this training available to employees on its internal Web site. More information on WSDOT's safety program can be found in the September 2008 Gray Notebook at: www.wsdot.wa.gov/accountability.
January open house meeting
29, Thursday, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m., Open House, SR 520 Pontoon Construction Scoping Meeting - Hoquiam: Project team members will share the latest information about the project to build bridge pontoons for the SR 520 floating bridge in the event of a catastrophic failure, and to store these pontoons until needed. This is an opportunity for the public to provide comments and ask questions about the three sites under consideration in Grays Harbor. Location: Hoquiam High School Cafeteria, 501 W. Emerson Avenue, Hoquiam.
For more details, please visit the WSDOT Calendar of Events.
Express Lane Archive
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