From the Regional Administrator
Welcome to our July Eastern Region newsletter. This month we update some work on I-90, another project on the North Spokane Corridor, and the new Keller Ferry vessel.
As always, if you have any questions on items in this newsletter, or other transportation issues, please let me know. Give me a call at (509) 324-6010 or drop me an e-mail at metcalk@wsdot.wa.gov
Keith A. Metcalf, P.E., Regional Administrator
WSDOT Eastern Region
509-324-6010
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I-90/Altamont and Havana Bridge deck project
We have a major bridge deck repair project underway on Interstate 90 in east Spokane. There have been a few questions on the temporary traffic reconfiguration for this work that involves reducing the freeway to two lanes in each direction, and closing several on and off ramps.
The Altamont and Havana Bridge deck repair work involves a series of tasks, including traffic control and barrier setup, existing asphalt and concrete deck demolition, substructure repair, followed by the repaving and curing of the new concrete and asphalt layers. Of course, while these items are underway, the portion of the roadway under construction is unusable.
To perform this work, while keeping the freeway open to traffic, we reduced I-90 to two lanes in each direction, utilizing the paved shoulder at the bridge locations to squeeze traffic around the bridge work sites. Knowing that it would be difficult for all the existing traffic to get through this area smoothly and safely, we continued the two-lane configuration for the section between the two sites and, although there is no work scheduled to be done on the ramps themselves, we closed the nearby on and off ramps. (Those ramps were resurfaced in 2009).
The original purpose behind closing the off ramps was to keep peak hour traffic traversing the exits from backing out onto the freeway. This can and does happen at some of the off ramps, and in the current construction configuration of the interstate would be devastating to traffic flow. We suspected that mainline traffic movement would be somewhat impaired with the current configuration and were not certain about how traffic on the off ramps would flow, so we closed them to be safe.
Now that we are operating in the reduced construction configuration, we have looked at whether we can open anything and found that we cannot due to safety concerns.
Knowing in advance the high impact of this job on the motoring public, we have also put the contractor on a strict schedule. They have only 30 days to do this work, or pay a heavy monetary penalty. We are pleased to report that the work is progressing as planned and barring any unforeseen issues, we expect the contractor will complete the work within that time frame and be done on or before August 10th.
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Other I-90 projects
Sunset Hill/Latah BridgePavement Rehabilitation
This job is still underway and it involves some lane reductions on both the eastbound and westbound freeway near downtown Spokane. That work will continue through the summer and fall, then restart next spring.
Sullivan Road to Barker Road
The Sullivan Road to Barker Road widening project is under construction in the Spokane Valley. We still have the usual two lanes in each direction, but they are a bit narrow with vehicles traveling in a temporary configuration. We hope to have that work done later this year.
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Keller Ferry
The long awaited replacement vessel for the the Keller Ferry crossing went out for construction bids on Wednesday, July 20th. The bid opening will be held on Monday, September 26th. The vessel engineering staff at the WSDOT/Washington State Ferries division will be handling the bid process and oversee construction of the new boat. The new vessel should be completed and put into service in the summer of 2013. The current vessel, Martha S, has been in service since September of 1948.
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North Spokane Corridor/Parksmith Road Interchange
Bid opening for the Parksmith Interchange project on the North Spokane Corridor (NSC) is set for Thursday, July 28th. This interchange is the final component in the north half of the 10-mile corridor and was funded with dollars saved by some very competitive bids on the Francis to Farwell/Southbound Lanes project that is currently under construction.
The Parksmith Road Interchange will provide access to the Mead community and the nearby commercial/industrial property along Hawthorne Road. These on and off ramps were graded on one of the early construction contracts.
Work continues on three other NSC contracts with crews from Graham Construction and their sub-contractors working toward finishing up in late 2011 or early 2012. These segments will be opened to traffic as they are completed.