Project Title & Location
SR 539 - Tenmile to International Border Widening

Project Description
Widening Guide Meridian Road to four lanes will increase safety and traffic capacity along this heavily-traveled traffic corridor. This widening work will also provide an additional lane of traffic in each direction along a major freight corridor between Bellingham and Aldergrove, British Columbia.

Contractor/Consultant
KPFF is the design consultant

Recent Progress

A Cost Risk Assessment (CRA) was completed in late August.  The CRA examined numerous risk factors in the project, including among others the potential for environmental/permitting complications and rising materials costs.    The goal of a CRA is not only to find cost savings but to indentify area's of the project that can be identified that will lead to the highest cost saving or create the highest risks if left under managed.  This report identified the crossing of Wiser Lake and the need to insure that the plans contain as much information as needed to minimize uncertainty as two areas that can be targeted to minimize potential risk as the project moves forward.  In that regard we will be administering a test pile project in early 2006 near the Nooksack River in order to be able to obtain better data for the design and construction of structures in this area.

Project design continues to steadily move ahead, focusing now on structures and finalizing the proposed alignment and associated elements.  In response to comments received during the public Open House held early last spring, a fifth roundabout has been added to the project at the intersection of River Road.  After conversations between WSDOT and the City of Lynden, the roundabout which had been under consideration at the intersection of Main Street in Lynden will not be added to the project.  The intersection will still be widened in conjunction with the rest of the project, but a traditional traffic signal will control traffic flow.  Foundation selection for the structures (the five bridges and a retaining wall) continues to evolve, as does the final preferred alternative for the Nooksack River Bridge.  The recently-available geotechnical recommendations indicate very poor soils; WSDOT Bridge is now working closely with the Design Office and Pan-Geo to refine the Nooksack Bridge and foundation configuration in order to provide a final design which clear-spans the river while minimizing settlement issues stemming from poor soils.

Another Open House was held in late July for two consecutive nights, with information focused on the R/W appraisal and acquisition process highlighted at the presentation.

Appraisals in the southern half of the project are now underway, and administrative offers (AO’s) are being readied.  Representatives of the Real Estate Office have started contacting property owners with property offers on the southern portion of this project.  The southern R/W plan was revised somewhat to reflect a shift in alignment at the southern end of the project, between Tenmile Road and King Tut Road.  The alignment shift was made in order to avoid impact on a parcel where the Guide Meridian Water Association wells were located. These revisions have been submitted for approval.  R/W plans for the northern half of the project were recently approved. 

In response to the unexpected increase in the R/W estimate reported earlier this year, $9.8M was shifted from the CN budget to the RW budget in order to fund the anticipated costs of R/W acquisition for the entire corridor.  In doing this, the project was split into two phases – Stage 1, which includes PS&E and R/W acquisition for the entire project corridor but limits construction to the 4.5 mile segment between Tenmile Road (MP 6.00) and the south edge of Lynden (MP 10.39), and Stage 2, which encompasses the construction of the remainder of the project, from MP 10.39 to Badger Road at MP 12.54.

Design Construction Impacts

While funding has been transferred to allow R/W acquisition to continue without further delay, it will still be a challenge to acquire all of the project R/W for both Stage 1 and Stage 2 prior to the current AD of 10/07.  NWR RES is projecting a delivery date of November 2007 for the Stage 1 R/W and June 2008 for the Stage 2 R/W.  This has been pushed out from the previously estimated delivery in time for the October 2007 AD because of unforeseen delays in developing the R/W Plan for the north half of the project.  In order to recover schedule in the R/W appraisal and acquisition process, the initial appraisal review process could be waived, with appraisal QA/QC performed later.  NWR RES feels that by doing this, enough time savings could be realized to allow the delivery of the entire R/W by late 2007/early 2008.

Environmental Impacts / Compliance

An Environmental Assessment was completed with a finding of "no significant impact" in 1998.  These documents are being updated.   A new basin-wide approach to wetland mitigation continues to be examined for implementation on this project, and may include the use of offsite wetland mitigation.

The Design Office and NWR Environmental are currently working with FHWA in order to minimize schedule impacts resulting from the presence of two Section 4(f)/6(f) parcels along the corridor.  We are pursuing programmatic Section 4(f) inclusion for the project impacts to these parcels, which should reduce the risk to project schedule.

Environmental documents obtained to date: EA w/4(f) (9/98), FONSI (4/99), SEPA adoption (5/99).  SEPA adoption will need to be repeated as part of EA update process.

Impacts to Traffic

We are currently developing alternative ways to stage construction so that there will be fewer lane closures and smaller delays on traffic during construction.

(AD shown is for Stage 1 Construction contract)

Planned vs. Actual Expenditures
(Total Project Cost)

Nickel funds included in above costs

2005 Transportation Partnership Account