Date:  Friday, July 16, 2010

Contact:
Nazmul Alam, WSDOT engineer, 360-357-2722

OLYMPIA – Today WSDOT announced the Johns Prairie Road proviso report was submitted to the Washington state Legislature for further consideration.

The Johns Prairie Road corridor connects State Route (SR) 3 with US 101 in Mason County. This corridor provides an important route for trucks and freight traffic for the Port of Shelton Industrial Park, and other commercial and industrial developments. This corridor is vital to the community in terms of freight mobility, economic vitality, and growth and development.

The 2009 Senate Substitute Bill Number 5352 Section 306 (39) provided WSDOT legislative direction to conduct a public outreach process to identify and respond to community concerns regarding the portion of Johns Prairie Road that connects SR 3 and US 101.The department shall provide a report on the process and outcome to the Legislature by June 30, 2010.

In this report, WSDOT considered nine alternative solutions developed by staff, stakeholders and community members. Based on the results of the community discussion and technical reviews, the report found the following three solutions to be the most promising:

1. A low cost solution that would install a signal at SR 3/Johns Prairie Road, and would introduce full movement access for that intersection by means of a new roundabout improvement immediately north of the intersection.

2. A second, moderate cost solution would install a new frontage road and bridge at Johns Creek along the west side of SR 3 and north of the existing intersection. The new road would effectively move the intersection to a new, signalized location north of the service station and grocery store located north of Johns Creek Bridge, connecting to Johns Prairie road at a point immediately west of the existing intersection (which would be abandoned in the process).

3. A third solution is to build on the second solution by realigning Johns Prairie Road along an alignment north of the current one, as part of a future Mason County project in conjunction with a potential gravel mine development on the property that was discussed during this planning process. Phasing the improvements is recommended as a way to better accommodate funding considerations.

Note, each solution has potential engineering challenges that would be evaluated once further funding is identified; including the implications of increased traffic due to improved intersection function.

Click here to read the report.

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