WSDOT Projects

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View the entire lane diagram for the wider, safer SR 543.

Project Facts

• This project received $13.8 million in funding from the 2003 Washington state Legislature. The goal is to move freight quickly and safely to and from the border.
• Border congestion costs trucking companies an estimated $22 million every year at Pacific Highway alone.
• We lowered SR 543 25 feet to build a new overpass at D Street.

Overview
We are dramatically changing and improving Pacific Highway (State Route 543) through Blaine. We are reconstructing, lowering and repaving SR 543 from Boblett Street to the U.S.-Canada border. During construction, we are building a new interchange at D Street and a designated truck lane. The new truck lane will be on the east side of the Duty Free Store to line up with the commercial inspection booths at the border. These improvements will help increase safety, improve freight movement and relieve congestion.

Why is WSDOT widening State Route 543?
The Blaine crossings between Washington and British Columbia see the third highest volume of passenger traffic and the fourth highest volume of commercial trucks along the entire U.S.-Canada border.  Commercial traffic has increased 85 percent during the last 10 years. Up to 2,000 trucks use the highway each day.  And every day, trucks back up along the highway causing congestion and conflicts with local residents and drivers.

We will widen the highway and build a new overpass to relieve congestion, improve safety and facilitate truck movement across the border.

The End Result
When construction is complete, SR 543 will move trucks and cars in a faster, safer manner to and from the border. Extra lanes and a new D Street overpass will help separate cars and trucks and eliminate conflicts and congestion at intersections. Local Blaine residents will be able to cross SR 543 at D Street on the new overpass with no delay or hassle. 

Project Benefits
We are building a new D Street overpass to separate local traffic from highway traffic. The new overpass will increase safety and make it easier for local residents to get from one side of town to the other. Residents will pass over SR 543 on the new overpass. To build the overpass at D Street, we lowered SR 543 about 25 feet. D Street remains at its same height and location. 

We widened SR 543 north of Boblett Street to provide more room for both cars and trucks.  Presently, northbound trucks must use the shoulder of the highway as a waiting area. We will build and designate one new northbound lane specifically for trucks.  The new lane will help prevent conflicts and congestion. 

Widening northbound:

• Widen to three lanes north of Boblett Street
• Two general purpose lanes and one truck lane
• The truck lane will shift to the other side of the Duty Free Store to line up with the border security booths.

Widening southbound:

• Southbound will become two lanes
• A right turn lane will lead to westbound H Street

We built a noise wall just north of H Street, on the west side of SR 543, to help prevent noise from affecting local residents and neighborhoods.

This project ties in with the Free and Secure Trade program (FAST). FAST allows for pre-approved trucks to quickly cross the border, much like Nexus, used by passenger vehicles.  Currently, northbound trucks signed up for the program see little benefit because there is only one truck lane leading to the border station on SR 543. Once construction is complete, trucks using FAST will have their own lane, increasing their crossing speed substantially while relieving congestion.

What is the project timeline?

• Monday, Feb. 11, 2008 - opened D Street on- and off-ramps
• Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2007 - opened the FAST lane for preapproved commercial vehicles.
• Monday, Nov. 26, 2007 - opened all three northbound and both southbound lanes.
• Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2007 - opened the D Street overpass.
• Monday, Nov. 19, 2007 - opened the new truck alignment around the Duty Free Store, north of D Street.
• We closed the east leg of the D Street intersection on Nov. 15, 2006. 
• We closed the truck parking lot on Oct. 30, 2006.
• We closed the west leg of the D Street intersection on Oct. 23, 2006.
• We closed the truck lane between H Street and D Street on Oct. 10, 2006.  It will remain closed until fall 2007.
• We lowered the speed limit to 35 mph (down from 40 mph) on Oct. 2, 2006 to improve safety. 
• We started construction in May 2006, and we expect to finish by fall 2008.
• On March 13, 2006 we awarded this three-year-long project to IMCO General Construction of Bellingham.
• We gave contractors notice on Nov. 14, 2005 to competitively bid on this project.

Public Involvement
Sign up for our e-mail update list and receive timely and accurate information about lane closures and construction plans.

Contact Chris Damitio in the project design office for details on project involvement. Your thoughts and opinions are important to us.

Environmental Protection
WSDOT makes every effort to assess and minimize environmental impact from our projects. During project design, WSDOT will work to reduce the impact to wetlands, creeks and rivers in the project area. A detailed analysis of the project's environmental impacts will be completed and, if necessary, an appropriate plan for mitigation of impacts will be developed and documented as part of the environmental documentation and environmental permitting processes.
Please visit the WSDOT Environmental Services Web site for more information.

Increasing safety is one of our priorities
This project will greatly increase safety by reducing congestion, separating car and truck traffic, and improving intersections.

Will this project impact tribal resources?
At WSDOT we seek to address the concerns of the tribal nations using the process outlined in Section 106 of The National Historic Preservation Act and the WSDOT Tribal Consultation Policy adopted in 2003 by the Transportation Commission as part of the WSDOT Centennial Accord Plan.

Section 106 consultation was initiated in July 2000 with the Nooksack and Lummi tribes. The Samish were included in consultation that continued in 2004. Follow-up calls have been made to each. An additional cultural resource survey is currently being prepared and will be sent to the tribes for review and comment.

We consulted with the Lummi tribe when we developed the cultural resource survey and the environmental assessment for this project.

Financial Information

This project is funded through the following fund sources:

• 2003 gas tax(Nickel Funding) - $13.8 million 
• Existing funds - $37 million 
• Total funding available from all sources - $50.8 million 

For project schedule and updates, please see the Quarterly Project Report.

How can I get more information?
Contact:

Project Engineer Chris Damitio
460 Stuart Road
Bellingham, WA 98226
Phone: 360-788-7400
E-mail: DamitiC@wsdot.wa.gov

Communications Dustin Terpening
1043 Goldenrod Road, Suite 101
Burlington, WA 98233-3415
Phone: 360-757-5997
E-mail: Terpenid@wsdot.wa.gov

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