Date:  Friday, May 07, 2010

Contact: Kevin Miller, Southwest Region Design Office, (360) 905-1565 (Vancouver)
Heidi Sause, WSDOT Communications, (360) 905-2057 (Vancouver)

Formal access hearing will document testimony of affected property owners

CHEHALIS - The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) invites the public to an open house and formal access hearing on Tuesday, May 25, for the I-5, Mellen Street to Blakeslee Junction project.

The open house will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. at the WSDOT Chehalis Project Office located at 1411 Rush Road in Chehalis. The public can stop by anytime to view displays and talk to WSDOT staff about details of the project.

At 6:30 p.m. following the open house, WSDOT will hold a formal access hearing to document testimony from property owners whose access will be affected by the project.

WSDOT staff will present proposed access plans for property owners next to the project area and document property owner testimony. While hearing testimony must be related to property access issues, attendees will have an opportunity to discuss other questions with WSDOT staff before and after the hearing.

The I-5, Mellen Street to Blakeslee Junction project is the fourth and final phase in delivering more than $390 million in safety and mobility improvements on 18 miles of I-5 in Lewis and Thurston counties. The project constructs collector distributor lanes between Mellen Street (Exit 81) and Harrison Avenue (Exit 82) interchanges. The project also makes safety improvements to the Mellen Street and Harrison Avenue interchanges, and widens and realigns the I-5 curve at Blakeslee Junction.

The project is scheduled to start construction in 2012. Once completed, this project will help I-5 better serve current and future traffic demands and better accommodate the movement of goods and services.

Project information may be reviewed and obtained prior to the access hearing by visiting the project Web page at: www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/I5/MellentoGrandMound/phase3, or by contacting the Project Engineer. For those unable to attend the meeting, public testimony can be mailed to:

Area Engineer Kevin Miller
WSDOT SW Region Design Office
PO Box 1709
Vancouver, WA 98668-1709
E-mail: swclark@wsdot.wa.gov
Phone: (360) 905-1565 or fax: (360) 905-2061

The site of the access hearing is accessible to persons with disabilities.

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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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