Date:  Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Contact: Bronlea Mishler, WSDOT communications, 360-757-5947 (Burlington)
Chris Damitio, project engineer, 360-788-7400 (Bellingham)

BELLINGHAM – Crews will open the last one and a half miles of new lanes on the Guide Meridian (SR 539) north of Bellingham on Wednesday morning, Nov. 19, substantially completing the four-mile, $66-million widening and safety improvement project between Horton and Ten Mile roads.

A key element in meeting this milestone is the ability to stripe the new lanes. This can only be done in dry weather, and if the weather doesn’t cooperate, the opening may have to be delayed.

When the new lanes open between Smith and Hemmi roads, the Guide Meridian will be five lanes wide – two lanes northbound, two lanes southbound with a middle turn lane. This will help relieve congestion and improve safety for the approximately 20,000 drivers who use this road daily.

Crews recently opened the road to five lanes between Horton and Smith roads in early October. Construction started more than a year ago, in June 2007.

While all the lanes will open to drivers, not all the paving is completely finished. Crews will have to return in spring 2009 to lay the final layer of asphalt near Deer Creek. Crews weren’t able to complete paving before the fall rains came. Crews will still be on the project throughout the winter, monitoring environmental mitigation, finishing planting and cleaning up the remainder of the work.

Work is currently under way north of Hemmi Road on the second stage of the widening project, which stretches from Ten Mile Road to Lynden. Construction on the second stage will continue through the winter and finish up in fall 2009.

For more information, visit the project Web page at www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR539/HortonTenMile, or check out the Guide Meridian blog at http://guidemeridian.blogspot.com.  

< Back to News Home