Date:  Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Contact: Colin Newell, Chehalis Area Engineer, (866) 713-2412 (toll-free in Chehalis)
Abbi Russell, WSDOT Communications, (360) 905-2057 (Vancouver)

Motorists can expect a full nighttime closure with detour available

CHEHALIS – Crews are ahead of schedule on the SR 6, South Fork Chehalis River Bridge project as final bridge girders are installed Thursday, March 5. During final girder installation, motorists can expect a full night time closure of the highway from 7 p.m., Thursday to 4 a.m., Friday.

Crews must close SR 6 Thursday night to set up a crane in the roadway and complete girder installation. Once girders are set, crews will begin construction of the new bridge deck.

This $10 million bridge replacement project, funded by the 2005 gas tax package, employs up to 25 people at a time during different phases of construction. When completed later this year, the new wider bridge will improve safety and relieve congestion. The existing bridge was built in 1925 and measures only 20 feet wide. Due to the narrow width, large vehicles stop to wait for oncoming traffic to clear the bridge before proceeding to cross. As a result, rear-end collisions are common at this location.

The new 40-foot-wide bridge will carry two 12-foot lanes with 8-foot shoulders. The bridge is being constructed on a new alignment 20 feet to the north, flattening the curve at the east end of the existing bridge.

A signed, five-mile detour will be available during the closure. Motorists traveling westbound on SR 6 will exit left onto Spooner Road, and take a slight right onto Curtis Hill Road, then right onto Boistfort Road and take a left to get back onto SR 6 (near milepost 42.8). Motorists traveling eastbound on SR 6 will exit right onto Boistfort Road, then left onto Curtis Hill Road, and take a slight left onto Spooner Road and take a right to get back onto SR 6 (near milepost 51).

For more information on the SR 6, South Fork Chehalis River Bridge project, please visit the project Web page at: www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/SR6/ChehalisRiverBridge.

For weekly updates on this and other construction-related traffic impacts in the region, please visit the WSDOT Southwest Region Weekly Travel Advisory Web page: www.wsdot.wa.gov/Regions/SouthWest/Construction/default.htm. 

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WSDOT keeps people, businesses and the economy moving by operating and improving the state's transportation systems. To learn more about what we're doing, go to www.wsdot.wa.gov/news for pictures, videos, news and blogs. Real time traffic information is available at www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic or by dialing 5-1-1.

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