OLYMPIA It s National Work Zone Awareness Week and the Washington State Department of Transportation wants everyone to wear orange today to raise safety awareness and honor road crews.
WSDOT says there are an average of 842 people killed in work zone crashes every year throughout the country. In 2020, Washington had seven fatality crashes in work zones on state roadways.
Since 1950, 60 WSDOT workers have been killed on the job, the vast majority in work zone crashes. State statistics show that 94.4% of those killed in work zone crashes are travelers, not workers.
Work zones have been getting safer for WSDOT workers: 21 staff were killed during the 1950s while only four have been killed in the last 20 years. The last WSDOT crew member killed in a work zone was Bruce Cowing, in 2016.
Washington lawmakers keep new highways on cruise control
I-5 Bridge replacement among projects that will have to wait By Mike Lindblom, The Seattle Times
Published: April 27, 2021, 8:20am
Share: The Interstate 5 Bridge. (Columbian files)
OLYMPIA Washington lawmakers entered the 2021 session exploring proposals to erect new bridges, subsidize electric cars and collect fuel taxes as high as $1 per gallon.
Instead, their awkward virtual session ended on cruise control, as members simply renewed construction money for freeway expansions planned years ago. These include one new lane each direction of clogged Interstate 405 between Bellevue and Renton, which hasn’t been widened since 1984.
They kept money flowing to replace road culverts that block fish streams, as mandated by federal courts.
Mill Plain road work to start May 3
$10M project aims to prepare corridor for future growth
Published: April 25, 2021, 6:04am
Share: A diagram from WSDOT shows a cross-section of East Mill Plain Boulevard through downtown Vancouver, illustrating how the street layout will be configured after a planned upgrade project this summer. (Courtesy of WSDOT)
The Washington State Department of Transportation has released details about an upcoming $10 million improvement project for a stretch of East Mill Plain Boulevard and the East 15th Street couplet through downtown Vancouver, aimed at preparing the corridor to handle future growth.
The corridor is a primary feeder route to I-5 for downtown traffic and freight trucks coming from the Port of Vancouver. WSDOT worked with the city and the port to plan the project. The corridor is signed as state Highway 501, so it’s in the state’s jurisdiction.
Upper level reopened on Spirit Lake Highway
Published: April 22, 2021, 5:54am
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The upper level of State Route 504, the Spirit Lake Memorial Highway, has reopened for the season, according to a press release from the Washington State Department of Transportation. WSDOT and the U.S. Forest Service reopened the gates Tuesday.
“There’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to reopen the highway each year,” WSDOT Highway Maintenance Worker Kent Palmer said in the press release. “We plowed a lot of snow and cleared a lot of debris so the gates can open this week.”
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Summer weather is here, and downtown Vancouver drivers have already begun to adjust a common summer sight: street construction. A three block stretch of Broadway near East Mill Plain Boulevard closed down last week for a sewer project, snarling traffic in the busy corridor.