Date:  Thursday, October 28, 2010

Contact: MaryLou Nebergall, Project Engineer, 360-570-6752 
               WSDOT Communications, 360-357-2789

ROCHESTER– Today, congestion relief became one lane closer to reality for drivers in south Thurston County. A new, third lane opened on southbound I-5, easing the commute at this known chokepoint for South Sound motorists.

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and contractor Scarsella Bros. Inc. have worked since May 2008 to add a lane in each direction of I-5 from Grand Mound to Maytown in Thurston County.

Overnight Wednesday, crews finished striping and sign installation and were able to open the new lane beginning just south of the Maytown interchange to southbound drivers this morning.

“The I-5 Grand Mound to Maytown project is a perfect example of how WSDOT is adding capacity in some of the worst bottleneck areas around the state,” said Paula Hammond, Secretary of Transportation. “Every year during holiday weekends, this is a spot where drivers encounter backups and delays. Getting these new lanes open by Thanksgiving really gives drivers something to be thankful for.”

This $61.5 million project – funded by the 2003 nickel gas tax increase – will ease congestion for the roughly 60,000 vehicles per day that travel this seven-mile stretch of roadway.

In November, the third northbound lane opens and makes the project functionally complete. Crews return next spring for final paving and striping.

This is one of five projects to widen 18 miles of I-5 to three lanes in both directions between most of Lewis and Thurston counties. Concurrent with the Grand Mound to Maytown project, crews in Lewis County are widening a four-mile section of I-5 between the Blakeslee Junction Railroad to just south of Grand Mound (milepost 88).

In June 2009, WSDOT completed a widening and interchange project from Rush Road to 13th Street in Lewis County. In late November, crews will start the I-5 Grand Mound to Maytown Stage Two project that rebuilds the I-5/US 12 interchange at Grand Mound.

The I-5 Mellen Street to Blakeslee Junction project is scheduled to begin in 2012. When it is complete in 2014, I-5 through Lewis and Thurston counties will be six lanes wide.

For more information about the I-5 Grand Mound to Maytown project, please visit www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/i5/grandmoundtomaytown/. To learn more about the I-5 Blakeslee Junction to Grand Mound project, go to www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/i5/MellentoGrandMound/phase1/.

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