Date:
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Contact:
Travis Phelps, WSDOT Communications, (206) 440-4470 (Seattle)
Dave McCormick, Assistant Regional Administrator, (206) 440-4656 (Seattle)
MARYSVILLE – Crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation are beginning to install a second run of cable median barrier along a 10-mile stretch of I-5 near Marysville.
Over the next few months, drivers will see crews working in the median along I-5. This $2.4 million project is scheduled for completion in winter 2006.
In 2005, WSDOT conducted a study on a 10-mile stretch of I-5 in Marysville after a string of cross-median collisions occurred in that area. After examining the data, WSDOT engineers concluded that the majority of the collisions involved sedans bottoming out in the ditch, nudging beneath the cable barrier, then lifting the barrier and continuing across the median. To enhance safety, crews are installing a second run of cable median barrier. WSDOT engineers believe that placing barrier on both sides of the median ditch will address the problem of vehicles bottoming out in the ditch and lifting the cable barrier.
The engineers considered installing concrete barrier or guardrail, but determined that these more rigid barriers would likely increase the number and severity of crashes in this location.
“We will install additional cable barrier in this area to engage cars before they hit the bottom of the ditch,” said Assistant Regional Administrator Dave McCormick. “While no barrier can protect drivers 100 percent of the time, we are confident this second run of cable barrier will help keep the cars from traveling across the median.”
A mix of high speeds and congestion also contributed to drivers running off of the road in this area. In 2004, an average of 62 drivers per day exceeded 90 mph on I-5 just north of Marysville, near the Smokey Point rest area, making this one of the places in the state where drivers most frequently traveled at such great speeds. Fourteen percent of southbound drivers and 20 percent of northbound drivers were traveling at 75 mph or faster.
The speed limit through this section of I-5 was 70 mph in 2004 and was lowered to 60 mph on July 1, 2005.
Crews will also continue to install cable median barrier in numerous locations throughout the state where there is currently no barrier to help prevent crossover collisions.
Crews working for WSDOT are currently installing approximately 70 miles of new cable barrier in eight counties and on nine separate highways to help prevent crossover and head-on collisions. This $8.8 million project is funded with gas tax money from the 2005 Legislative Transportation Funding Package.
Information about WSDOT’s new cable median barrier installations can be found at www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/cablebarrier. The I-5 Marysville Cable Median Barrier report can be found at www.wsdot.wa.gov/maintenance/barriers/marysville.
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