Date:
Monday, February 13, 2006
Contact:
Leon Winger, Project Engineer, 360-442-1346
Kevin Miller, Assistant Area Engineer, 360-442-1353
Sylvia Ross, WSDOT Communications, 360-905-2058
STELLA – Starting Monday morning at 6 a.m., one lane of State Route 4 will reopen to all traffic, but with limited operating hours and significant delays, announced the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).
The single operating lane of the highway will reopen, with flaggers on-site, during the following hours:
- 6 a.m. - 8 a.m. – Open (Monday, 02/13/06 only)
- 10 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. – Open
- 12 noon – 12:15 p.m. – Open
- 2 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. – Open
- 4 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. – Open
- 5:30 p.m. – 8 a.m. - Open
After Monday’s initial 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. service, on each subsequent morning traffic will be halted at 8 a.m. and will reopen every two hours, on the hour, thereafter for 15 minutes to let vehicles pass. At 5:30 p.m. traffic will resume until 8 a.m. the next morning. The westbound lane of the highway will be partitioned off by a rock fall fence, while crews keep working on repairing the damaged slope. Citizens may call WSDOT's designated toll free number, 1-800-545-1393, to get updates on operating hours.
On Thursday, February 9, emergency service vehicles were the first to resume access through this stretch of SR 4, but only during emergencies.
During the hours that SR 4 is open to all traffic, it is important to remember that only one lane is open, so motorists should expect delays. Flaggers will be on site and advance message signs will be posted to alert motorists.
“It is important that we get the roadway open and allow people to safely pass through and resume their daily lives. This is still a very unstable rock cliff, so we will do our best to provide this limited traffic schedule for the public,” Said Don Wagner, Regional Administrator for Southwest Region of WSDOT. “Mother nature always has a way of showing us who is really in charge,” he added.
On Thursday, February 9 emergency service vehicles were the first to resume access through this stretch of SR 4, but only during emergencies.
Three contractors, Ostrander Rock & Construction Co., Hi-Tech Rockfall Construction and Pacific Blasting Company, have been working to stabilize the slope and clear the slide. Work on the slope will continue until the surrounding slope on the north side of the roadway is deemed safe for those traveling on the roadway below.
The slide happened during the windy conditions on February 4. The impacted section of the highway is at mile post 50 near Bunker Hill.
For further weather-related traffic impacts, please visit WSDOT’s Highway Weather Impacts web page at http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Traffic/Weather/updates/default.htm.
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