Date:
Monday, February 06, 2006
Contact:
Dustin Terpening, WSDOT Communications, (360) 757-5997 (Burlington)
Chris Damitio, Project Engineer, (360) 788-7400 (Bellingham)
ACME – Tomorrow morning WSDOT and its contractor Colacurcio Brothers Inc. will close all lanes of State Route 9 south of Acme for up to three weeks to repair the road. Crews will dig out a section of highway 300 feet long by 20 feet deep to remove heavily saturated soil and replace it with more stable material.
“We realize that closing all lanes of SR 9 is a major inconvenience for drivers, especially since there is no easy detour around the closure,” said Project Engineer Chris Damitio. “That’s why we’re going to work seven days a week during daylight hours until we’re finished.”
Crews closed all lanes of SR 9 north of Doran Road on Friday, Feb. 3 after saturated soil beneath the road sloughed, causing the road to sink and opening a 300-foot long crack. Crews were able to install a temporary signal and open one lane for drivers over the weekend.
“This area has been a chronic problem for years,” said Maintenance Superintendent Ron Morton. “We routinely patch it with asphalt to keep the road surface smooth. It’s to a point now where more asphalt patches won’t fix the problem.”
Drivers are urged to use I-5 as an alternate to SR 9. Southbound drivers can connect to I-5 from SR 9 using SR 542 near Deming. Northbound drivers can divert to I-5 using SR 20 near Sedro-Woolley.
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