Date:  Monday, April 27, 2009

Contact: Bronlea Mishler, WSDOT communications, 360-757-5947

• Northbound I-5 off-ramp to SR 539 to close for three nights
• North Cascades Highway opens tonight
• WSDOT goes orange for work zone safety week
• Another reason to join the ‘green’ commute

Northbound I-5 off-ramp to SR 539 to close for three nights
Crews will close the northbound I-5 off-ramp to SR 539 (Guide Meridian) for three nights starting Monday, April 27. During the closures, they’ll replace the traffic island at the bottom of the exit ramp with a new and improved island.

The ramp will close at 9 p.m. and reopen by 6 a.m. April 27 through April 29. You can access the Guide by using the Bellis Fair exit (256B), then turning right onto Bellis Fair Parkway to return to the Guide.

The new traffic island will be designed to improve traffic flow from the I-5 ramp onto the Guide. We're extending the length of the island to the north will keep Guide traffic from cutting in front of exiting I-5 traffic between the off-ramp and Telegraph Road.

North Cascades Highway opens tonight
All of you who’ve been waiting in breathless anticipation for the SR 20 North Cascades Highway to reopen are in luck: We’ll reopen the highway to traffic at 8 p.m. tonight (Friday, April 24) a full week earlier than anticipated. Our maintenance crews began work four weeks ago clearing avalanche chutes and snow from the mountain highway. It closed to traffic for the winter on Dec. 11.

East and west side crews met at Washington Pass on Wednesday. On Thursday, crews were widening and cutting safety pull-out areas. When the gates swing open, drivers should find the road conditions bare and dry or bare and wet across the entire route. The weather forecast calls for temperatures in the mid 40s, clouds and a freezing level around 4,500 feet. There is a possibility of some rain Saturday through Monday.

Updates and photos of the annual spring reopening are posted on the North Cascades Highway Web page.


WSDOT goes orange for work zone safety week
WSDOT went code orange for Work Zone Safety Awareness Week (April 20-24). We honored those who lost their lives in work zones during the annual Work Zone Memorial ceremony April 23. At least 59 people died in more than 10,500 work-zone collisions reported between 2000 and 2008.

One of the newest ways WSDOT is making work zones safer is by helping the State Patrol crack down on speeders with automated traffic safety cameras. Speed-detection radar triggers the cameras to capture the license plates of vehicles speeding through work zones. The vehicle’s registered owner then can be cited.

So if you drive through a work zone, “Give ‘em a brake,” and remember that it takes approximately 200 feet to stop your car at 60 mph.

Another reason to join the ‘green’ commute
As you celebrate our planet this week, consider “greening” up your commute. If reducing your carbon footprint isn't enough to excite you, think about the time and money you could save.

The auto club calculates that the cost of driving averages more than $5,700 per year, including nearly $3,460 in depreciation and more than $900 for insurance. Fuel to drive 15,000 miles in a year would cost around $1,500.

If this seems like a lot, we have suggestions for keeping you and your pocketbook in great shape: Try walking or bicycling to work. Not the athletic type? Relax, ride the bus or share a ride and skip the costs of parking and gas. Need more ideas and information? Check out how to reinvent your commute or ask your Employee Transportation Coordinator.

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