Date:  Thursday, September 09, 2010

Contact:
Rumina Suafoa, WSDOT Project Engineer, 253-534-3101
Lisa Copeland, Communications Manager, 360-357-2789

FIFE – Major construction delays are expected this weekend on northbound I-5 in Fife unless drivers change their plans and avoid the area.

Weather permitting, Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and its contractor, Tri-State Construction Inc., will close lanes on northbound I-5 beginning near the 54th Avenue interchange. During the closures, Friday night through Monday morning, crews will reconstruct the expansion joint across the center of the northbound West Hylebos Creek Bridge.

The work is part of the critical path to widen I-5 and open (high occupancy vehicle) HOV lanes in Fife in October.

To ease some of the congestion expected by this closure, WSDOT will stripe and open the newly paved northbound I-5 carpool lane to all general purpose traffic tomorrow evening, Friday, Sept. 10. This allows WSDOT to keep two northbound lanes open over night Friday, Saturday and Sunday and three northbound lanes open during daytime hours Saturday and Sunday.

Northbound I-5 lane closures begin 8 p.m. Friday and continue through 4 a.m. Monday. Drivers are asked to plan around these closures, choose an alternate route and avoid traveling on northbound I-5 from 3- 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept.11, and 1-4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 12.

"87,000 vehicles travel this section per day and we need all drivers to consider delaying their trips or find another route,” said Kevin Dayton, region administrator. “Otherwise the mid-day backups could last hours.”

Should rain delay the work , WSDOT plans to complete the work the following weekend, Sept. 17-20. Once the northbound work is done, crews will watch for a weather window, and do the same reconstruction southbound.

This $31.4 million construction project is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and supports an estimated 130 jobs.

WSDOT and Tri-State Construction, Inc. began construction in August 2009 to extend the I-5 HOV network south into Pierce County. The carpool lanes being built in both directions of I-5, from the King County line to the Port of Tacoma Road interchange in Fife, are expected to open to traffic by the end of next month.

The full congestion-relief and safety benefits of these projects will be fully realized once all the connecting projects are complete. More information about the program can be found at www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/piercecountyhov/.

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