From the Regional Administrator
Work starts Monday, May 18 on two I-90 projects. The big one: I-90 resurfacing in Spokane from the Division Street Interchange to Havana Street. To make things a little easier, we will be working mostly during the evening and overnight hours. The next I-90 job starting Monday involves re-decking two bridges just west of the Cheney/Four Lakes exit and the freeway will be reduced to one lane in each direction.
In this month’s newsletter, we highlight our annual highway paint striping activity.
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 Metcalf
Regional Administrator
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Transportation budget passed and signed
The House and Senate passed the transportation budget last month as their session ended and Governor Gregoire signed the legislation on Thursday, May 14th. Highlights for the Eastern Region was $28 million in new dollars dedicated to the North Spokane Corridor and $250,000 for US 195. The NSC funding will be used for additional design and right-of-way purchases with the US 195 money going toward the construction of a separated southbound right turn lane at Cheney-Spokane Road.
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Paint crews back on the road
Every spring, the Eastern Region paint striping crews get started on their annual trek to re-stripe every one of the 1,600+ miles of state highways in our seven-county region. It takes the crew several months to paint everything, usually finishing up just before the fall rains. The team in the paint truck sprays the yellow and white pigments on the centerlines, fog lines, lane skip stripes, and freeway exits. Combined with every gallon of the reflective paint are thousands of small glass beads that raise the paint above the surface and help in reflecting the color back to drivers at night.
The crew usually starts with Interstate 90 in the Spokane metro area the spreads out into the rural corners of the Region. Finally, they finish up with a second coat on I-90.
Along with the crew in the paint truck, area maintenance personnel paint crosswalks and other markings on the state highways that pass through the many towns in our area. These include the hundreds of “stop bars” at county road intersections along the highways.
The Region uses between 70,000 and 80,000 gallons of paint every year.
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I-90 paving in Spokane starts on May 18.
Contractors for the Washington State Department of Transportation will start a major Interstate 90 resurfacing job in the Spokane metro area on Monday, May 18.
Concrete pavement rehabilitation and hot mix asphalt paving will get underway on I-90 from the Division Street Interchange in downtown east to the vicinity of Havana Street near the Spokane east city limits. The project will eliminate the severely rutted highway surface and provide motorists with a smoother ride.
Inland Asphalt Company of Spokane is the prime contractor on this $8,091,333 project. The job is estimated to support or sustain approximately 80 jobs.
The contractor will use a diamond grinder to smooth the concrete pavement in the newer section of the freeway, the portion from Division Street through the Hamilton Interchange that was built in the mid 1960s. From Hamilton to Havana, two layers of hot mix asphalt will be installed over the existing concrete. The first pavement layer will be compacted with a rubber-tire roller to press the new asphalt into the deep ruts. This first layer will not appear perfectly smooth to drivers. The final layer will be compacted by standard, steel vibrating rollers to ensure full compaction and a smooth highway surface.
The concrete pavement through east Spokane is the original surface that was opened to traffic in 1957. It has performed well but just cannot stand up to the high volume of studded tire use in this area. The subsequent ruts are a safety concern and, although it won’t hold up as long as concrete, the new asphalt pavement layers should last several years before resurfacing is needed again.
In addition to resurfacing on the freeway through lanes, many of the asphalt on and off ramps in the Spokane area will be repaved. Ramps as far west as Geiger Blvd. and east to Sullivan Road will be resurfaced. New signs along the freeway are included in this job.
Work on the westbound side of I-90 near Flora Road is also a part of this project. A 1,500 foot segment that was part of a studded tire pavement damage test will be repaved.
Because over 100,000 vehicles per day use I-90 in Spokane, most of the work will be performed during evening and overnight hours to reduce the effects during the heavier travel periods. All travel lanes will be open to traffic from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. During nighttime asphalt grinding and paving, the individual on and off ramps will need to be closed with traffic required to use interchanges prior to or after the affected ramp. With construction crews in close proximity to traffic, and the daily changes in pavement conditions, the legal speed limit has been reduced to 50 mph.
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Bridge deck work on I-90 near Spokane begins May 18
Contractor crews will begin work to repair and resurface two bridges on Interstate 90 near Spokane on Monday, May 18. The two bridges carry I- 90 traffic across Medical Lake/Four Lakes Road and are located about a half-mile west of the SR 904/Cheney-Four Lakes interchange.
Drivers will notice a smoother ride when work wraps up later this summer.
James W. Fowler Company of Dallas, Ore., was awarded the $337,000 construction contract, which will support about six jobs.
During construction, I-90 will be reduced to one lane in each direction and the legal speed limit will be reduced. During the first three weeks of the job, the speed limit will be dropped to 55 mph. In the second phase, where work will be under way on the outside half of each bridge, the speed limit will be lowered to 45 mph and lanes will be reduced in width to 12 feet. Oversize loads will also be detoured around the work area via SR 904 once the lanes are narrowed.
For more details on the bridge resurfacing project, visit the project Web page: www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/i90/medicallakebridge