Date:
Monday, March 12, 2007
Contact:
Brian Dobbins, Project Engineer, (425) 956-2100
Myly Posse, WSDOT Communications, (206) 440-4700 (Seattle)
REDMOND – Mother Nature has forced WSDOT to keep 204th Place NE at SR 202 closed longer than expected. Crews hoped to put SR 202 drivers onto the new, elevated SR 202 roadway and reopen 204th Place NE on March 9, but cold temperatures, snow and rain delayed that timeline.
“We need two days of dry weather near the end of this week so we can pave and restripe the road,” said Project Engineer Brian Dobbins. “We now expect to open 204th Place NE on Thursday, March 15.”
If the weather cooperates, crews will switch westbound SR 202 traffic onto the new, elevated roadway by Wednesday night or early Thursday morning. By Thursday afternoon or evening, crews will switch eastbound traffic and reopen 204th Place NE. We will reschedule these changes on the next dry weekday if weather continues to hamper progress.
When traffic is switched and the road is open, only right turns will be possible to and from SR 202 at the 204th Place NE intersection until late fall 2008. The left-turn lane on SR 202 will be absorbed to give crews enough space to finish the widening of SR 202 and to build a 2000-foot-long safety barrier over a 20-foot-tall retaining wall. Our contractors are looking into innovative ways to reduce the duration of the turn restriction by one year.
Crews working for WSDOT and private contractor Tri-State Construction closed 204th Place NE on Feb. 8, 2007 to raise and rebuild the intersection. This work is associated with a two phase, $82.7 million dollar project that widens SR 202 from SR 520 in Redmond to Sahalee Way in rural King County. More than 27,000 cars and trucks drive on this stretch of SR 202 every weekday. When the project is complete, drivers will have an additional lane in both directions, smoother flow at intersections and improved safety with the installation of new or upgraded signals and left-turn lanes. Detailed project information and updates are available on our project Web page: www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/SR202/SR520_Sahalee/.
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