Date:  Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Contact: Abbi Russell, WSDOT Communications, (360) 905-2058 (Vancouver)

VANCOUVER – Backups and delays on I-205 in Vancouver never materialized last weekend thanks to travel changes by drivers. Fewer drivers were on the road, especially during the peak hours, while crews worked on the Glenn Jackson Bridge the weekend of July 23 through 26.

A closer analysis by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) revealed that it was not so much if drivers traveled; it was when they traveled that kept traffic moving in Vancouver.

Traffic volumes on southbound I-205 decreased by as much as 20 percent between the peak hours of 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., when WSDOT projected 10-mile backups and two-hour delays.

“Drivers did exactly what was needed to avoid congestion this past weekend,” said Deputy Regional Administrator Rick Sjolander. “They traveled less, and when they did travel, they avoided I-205 during the busiest times, when a difference of a few hundred cars can make or break it for backups.”

Overall, WSDOT found a 13 percent drop in southbound I-205 traffic volumes on Saturday, July 24, and a four percent drop on Sunday, July 25. I-5 southbound saw a small increase in traffic – two percent on Saturday and eight percent on Sunday – but not enough to cause significant delays.

With at least three more full weekend closures to go, WSDOT is asking drivers to continue planning ahead. Work by the Oregon Department of Transportation requires night time and weekend double-lane closures throughout the summer to replace 20 aging expansion joints on the north end of the bridge.

Two lanes on the southbound bridge span will close around the clock every other weekend so crews can chisel out old joints by hand, weld new joints together and pour concrete to hold them into place. The next scheduled around-the-clock closure weekend is August 6 through 9.

For more information on the I-205 Glenn Jackson Bridge Joint Replacement Project, please visit: http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/REGION1/GlennJackson/. 

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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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