Andrea E. Petrich, communications, 360-757-5963
Jason Koreski, assistant project engineer, 360-788-7410

Travelers should plan for a month of alternating traffic and delays

BIRCH BAY – It’s a busy freight route connecting a Whatcom County refinery to Interstate 5 and the access point to summer adventure at Birch Bay State Park. By the middle of August, a new roundabout will help improve safety for those who travel State Route 548 for work or play.

Washington State Department of Transportation contractor crews from Tiger Construction will begin work on the new roundabout at SR 548/Grandview and Kickerville roads Monday, July 16. Construction will take about a month and is split into five different stages.

Work schedule
Crews will alternate traffic on SR 548 during most of their work and close one side of access to and from Kickerville Road during the first four weeks of construction. Signed detours will direct travelers to use Bay, Blaine, Grandview, North Star and Brown roads to get around the Kickerville Road closure.

• Monday, July 16, through Friday, July 20 - Crews will alternate traffic on SR 548 and close access to and from the intersection from the northern side of Kickerville Road while they excavate the area, widen the roadway and make stormwater improvements.
• Monday, July 23, through Friday, July 27 – Crews will alternate traffic on SR 548 and close access to and from the southern section of Kickerville Road as they excavate and widen that side of SR 548.
• Monday, July 30, through Sunday, Aug. 5 – Crews will alternate traffic on SR 548 and close access to and from the southern section of Kickerville Road as they install roundabout islands and curbing on the southern side of SR 548.
• Monday, Aug. 5, through Sunday, Aug. 12 - Crews will alternate traffic along SR 548 and close the northern access to and from Kickerville Road while they build the northern side of the roundabout.
• Monday, Aug. 13, through Friday, Aug. 17 – Crews will put down a final layer of asphalt, clean-up the area and apply temporary striping. Flaggers will alternate travelers through the area during some of this work.

Travelers should plan to use the intersection as a four-leg roundabout without any closures by Saturday, Aug. 18. Crews will apply permanent striping in the fall and will require some lane closures during that work. The work schedule could shift due to weather and contractor progress, you can check weekly updates through the WSDOT construction update page.

Visiting, work or live along SR 548?
During this work, people driving or bicycling through this area should expect some delays. You can stay on schedule and keep the work zone safe by:

• Leaving extra time.
• Avoiding peak travel periods - westbound during the morning weekday commute and Friday afternoons and eastbound during the afternoon weekday commute and Sunday afternoons.
• Following flagger instructions and posted construction information.

WSDOT received some funding toward this federally funded project from BP America. The project is estimated to cost $1.5 million.