Date:
Friday, December 19, 2008
Contact:
Jeff Adamson, North Central Region Communications Manager, Wenatchee, (509) 667-2815, (509) 669-8778 Cell. E-mail: adamsoj@wsdot.wa.gov
Bob Romine, Project Engineer, Wenatchee, (509) 667-2880, E-mail: rominer@wsdot.wa.gov
WENATCHEE – The Washington State Department of Transportation will delay the start of a rock scaling project to limit the impact on the regional tourism industry. The project will address an ongoing safety hazard – rocks falling onto US 97A – by scaling the unstable slopes above Rocky Reach Dam and installing netting
The $6.7 million project was originally scheduled to be advertised for private contractor bids on Dec. 22. Now bidding will be rescheduled to next fall.
“Our original plan to scale the slope next spring followed by installation of the steel netting next summer imposed too great a hardship on some orchardists and businesses dependant on tourist traffic,” said Bob Romine, WSDOT Project Engineer. “After our last meeting with the Entiat Chamber of Commerce, earlier this month, we are delaying the work until the spring of 2010, when the entire project can be done in a single phase,”
WSDOT hosted several open houses this year in Entiat and Wenatchee to hear from local residents what work schedule and traffic control plan would work best for those who use that corridor regularly.
“We heard the message loud and clear, that even limited delays that would re-route travelers at the peak of the summer tourist season, wouldn’t work,” said Romine. “So we’re transferring all the project funding into the next fiscal year so we can start as early as weather allows in the spring of 2010 and finish the entire project with the least impact possible.”
Project funding was split over two fiscal years so the second (netting) phase of the project couldn’t begin until after July 1. During the scaling phase, which removes loose rock, there will be weekday, daytime full closures with a short noon hour opening. The netting phase follows, which will require only single-lane alternating, flagger-controlled traffic with 20- to 30-minute delays. Work will be suspended for Washington State Apple Blossom Festival traffic and over Memorial Day to minimize impacts on Entiat businesses.
This project will stabilize three rock slopes above US 97A, four miles North of Wenatchee. It includes debris removal, rock scaling, installation of rock bolts and steel cable netting. This is the first of two phases of slope repair along US 97A to be accomplished between now and 2012.
There is an obvious detour utilizing US 97 on the east bank of the Columbia River in Douglas County. Any detour is still an inconvenience so an acceptable traffic control plan for schools, transit, businesses, local commuters, truckers, travelers, and emergency service providers is a top priority. When construction begins, a public information program will provide users with timely and accurate travel delay and road closure information, including:
- The project web page: www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/US97A/NWenatcheeSlope/
- WSDOT Traffic and Roads web pages.
- 5-1-1 telephone system.
- North Wenatchee’s 1610 AM Highway Advisory Radio (HAR).
- E-mail or faxes to media, businesses, schools, transit and emergency services.
- Electronic message signs on the highway shoulders.
- Local radio and newspaper stories/announcements.
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