Date:  Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Contact: Dustin Terpening, Communications, 360-757-5997 (Burlington)

Drivers face detour delays of up to 20 minutes

DEMING – All lanes of Mount Baker Highway (State Route 542) will close for 12 days at the end of August while Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) crews install a fish-friendly box culvert beneath the highway east of Deming. Drivers will be detoured around the closure and should expect 15- to 20-minute delays.

WSDOT will replace the temporary small, plastic culvert at Marshall Hill Road with a much larger concrete box culvert to help improve drainage through the area. The new culvert will also be easier for fish to swim through.

The closure will start at 7 a.m. Monday, Aug. 23, and will last through Sept. 3. The road will be closed between both intersections of Marshall Hill Road. Flaggers will direct drivers through the short detour route on Marshall Hill Road.

A temporary 4-foot-diameter plastic culvert was installed in January 2009 during emergency repairs to Mount Baker Highway. A large mudslide covered the highway, plugged the existing culvert and damaged properties in the surrounding area. The temporary culvert allowed crews to reopen the road quickly until a permanent solution could be designed, built and paid for.

The new permanent 10-foot by 15-foot concrete box culvert replaces the temporary culvert and is primarily funded with $800,000 in federal emergency funds.

For a map of the project location and more details, visit the project website: www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR542/MarshallHillCulvertReplacement/.  

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