Date:  Friday, January 22, 2010

Contact: Denys Tak, WSDOT Kelso Area Engineer, (800) 545-1393 (Kelso) toll free
Annie Linstrom, WSDOT Communications, (360) 601-1760 (Vancouver)

I-5 and SR 432 ramp closures begin February 1; detours will be available to minimize impacts

KELSO – Construction begins Monday, January 25 on a Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) project to improve safety and reduce congestion at the I-5 interchange at SR 432 (Exit 36), and the adjacent SR 432 interchange at Talley Way near Kelso.

This $35 million project is funded through the 2005 gas tax and federal funds provided by the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Council of Governments. The project will improve safety, create better connectivity to existing roads, increase capacity and decrease congestion in the area. The project will also improve freight access to I-5 from the Port of Longview.

During the course of the I-5, SR 432 Talley Way Interchange project, motorists will encounter daytime single-lane closures and night time double-lane closures in both directions of I-5 at the SR 432 interchanges (mile posts 35.82 to 37.48). Night time single closures will also occur on SR 432 and Talley Way at the SR 432 interchanges.

Beginning February 1, WSDOT will close the SR 432 westbound loop ramp to I-5 southbound for approximately two years while crews reconstruct the interchange, and will permanently remove the I-5 southbound to SR 432 eastbound loop ramp. A new detour route will be established using Talley Way or the Old Highway 99 to I-5. Alternate routes to I-5 southbound will be signed and available during construction.

Northwest Construction, Inc. of Bellevue, Wash. will begin work by installing temporary signs and high-visibility fencing throughout the work zone to ensure the safety of motorists and work crews during construction. During the project, crews will construct two new bridges, build 13 new walls and place 230,000 cubic yards of fill dirt on this job.

For more information on the I-5, SR 432 Talley Way Interchange project, please visit: www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/I5/SR432Interchange. 

                                                                        ###

WSDOT's mission is to keep 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.

< Go Back