Date:
Monday, November 20, 2006
Contact:
Dustin Terpening, WSDOT Communication - 360.757.5997 (Burlington)
SUMAS – For the last seven months WSDOT and its contractor IMCO Construction have worked diligently to dramatically improve State Route 9 between the cities of Nooksack and Sumas. All their hard work has paid off. They now plan to open a new section of highway as well as complete the entire project one year ahead of schedule and on budget.
With land owned by the agency since the 1960’s, WSDOT forged three miles of new roadway between East Badger Road and Front Street in Sumas. This new roadway leads drivers onto a wider, straighter highway without 90-degree turns, and it is better aligned with the border crossing in Sumas.
Crews will open the new roadway at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, Nov. 22, one year ahead of their fall 2008 deadline.
Drivers will notice that SR 9, south of the new alignment, is also wider and safer. WSDOT tore out and rebuilt portions of the highway from the ground up to help make the highway more durable year round. Crews also leveled steep ditches, widened shoulders and lanes, and moved utilities and power poles further from the highway to help improve safety.
“Prior to construction, SR 9 north of Nooksack had a history of truck rollovers and collisions, and winter closures,” said Project Engineer Chris Damitio. “Those should all be a thing of the past. The roadway is wider, straighter and more durable now.”
The commercial trucking industry relies heavily on SR 9 to move goods and services across the border because it hosts one of only two 24-hour commercial border crossings in Whatcom County. Drivers will now have safer and more reliable access to and from the border in Sumas.
What drivers may not notice is that nearly $1 million of the $9 million spent to build this project was devoted to improving local streams and wetlands near the highway. Crews replaced small culverts with larger fish-friendly culverts; installed new storm water drains and treatment systems; removed noxious weeds and planted native grasses and shrubs; improved 580 feet of Bone Creek for fish; installed approximately 50 log bollards in creeks to improve fish habitat; built a new 2.3-acre wetland near Johnson Creek; and extended the Sumas bike trail system by 400 yards.
In total, for design, right of way and construction, WSDOT spent $18 million to widen, straighten and improve SR 9. The project was funded by the 2003 Washington State Legislature.
Construction crews will remain in the area for the next several weeks as they finish work and start cleaning up. Drivers should watch for trucks and crews working on or near the roadway. Please slow down and pay attention.
For more project details, visit www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/sr9/nooksaktocherry/.
< Back to News Home