Date:  Friday, October 28, 2011

Contact:
Joe Irwin, WSDOT communications, 360-357-2703 (Tumwater)
Jeff Cook, project engineer, 360-874-3010 (Port Orchard)

BREMERTON – The newly constructed, oval-shaped “egg-about” in Manette will get a makeover next week when crews modify the shape of its concrete truck apron and interior landscaping section to provide greater mobility for larger trucks and buses.

Washington State Department of Transportation engineers cracked open the original design this week in favor of a new, more traditional roundabout design after noticing that local buses needed to slow down considerably in order to negotiate the recently reopened intersection at Wheaton Way and Harkins Street.

“Buses and trucks can get through the current roundabout, but they had to slow down in order to do so. That was an issue,” said Jeff Cook, project engineer. “Making this slight change will allow them move through closer to the posted speed limit and will improve the efficiency of the intersection.”

Work at the intersection is scheduled to occur within the next week and will not impact the Nov. 10 opening of the new Manette Bridge. One-way, alternating traffic from 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday will continue at the intersection.

The rework by WSDOT, which will cost $7,500, reduces the landscaped section in the center of the roundabout by approximately 10 feet. This area will allow crews to increase the size of the truck apron, a raised concrete section that surrounds the landscaping and provides larger vehicles to additional room to turn in the roundabout.

“This is one of those issues where the design modeling works, the real-life geometry works, but as a whole, the roundabout didn’t work how we wanted it to for delivery truck and bus drivers,” Cook said.

For more information about Manette Bridge traffic impacts, please visit www.wsdot.wa.gov/Regions/Olympic/Construction.

The $60 million Manette Bridge Project removes the 81-year-old bridge and replaces it with a new span that features two 11-foot-wide lanes, two 5-foot-wide shoulders, a 10-foot-wide walking path and a new roundabout that will improve safety and traffic flow.

Hyperlinks within the news release:

• Manette Bridge Project www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/sr303/manettebridgereplacement

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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 http://wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/ or by dialing 5-1-1.

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