Date:  Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Contact: Dustin Terpening, Communications, 360-757-5997 (Burlington)
Chris Damitio, Project Engineer, 360-788-7403 (Bellingham)

BLAINE – The newly remodeled I-5/D Street interchange in Blaine, now equipped with two roundabouts, will reopen to drivers six days ahead of schedule on Wednesday evening, May 19.

WSDOT closed D Street and both I-5 on-ramps at the interchange on April 5 in an effort to speed up construction and minimize impacts to drivers and businesses.

This $2.8 million safety and traffic-flow improvement project is fully funded by the federal government and will complement improvements the General Service Administration made at the I-5, Peace Arch border crossing.

Crews worked to build two roundabouts, one at each on-/off-ramp intersection, in less than 50 days. The roundabouts replace two traffic signals and will improve traffic mobility and safety.

“We worked around the clock, seven days a week, to get these roundabouts open in the least amount of time possible,” said Chris Damitio, WSDOT Project Engineer. “The closure saved a lot of time. Without it, it probably would have taken us twice as long.”

The contractor will receive a financial bonus for opening D Street and the I-5 on-ramps early. Incentives (and penalties) were included in the contract to encourage the contractor to complete the work early.

Construction will continue at the interchange even with the roundabouts open to traffic. Crews will close lanes as necessary at night to install street lights and permanent lane markings.

Also, as part of this project, crews will make modifications to I-5 to help slow drivers down as they approach the Canadian border.

WSDOT wants to remind drivers of a few simple rules for driving single-lane roundabouts:
1. Yield to drivers in the roundabout
2. Do not stop in the roundabout
3. Always drive counterclockwise through the roundabout

Videos and graphics explaining how to drive a roundabout are available on the WSDOT roundabout website - www.wsdot.wa.gov/Safety/roundabouts.  

For more project details, visit the Web page www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/I5/blaineinterchange/.  

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