The Washington State Department of Transportation’s project to expand the freeway from Grand Mound to Centralia has become more noticeable in the past couple months.
Work crews are excavating the hillside east of freeway about two miles north of Centralia to create what will become the new shoulder after the Interstate 5 widening project is complete sometime next year.
“The new shoulders will be wrapped up by the end of the year,” said Melissa McFadden, assistant area engineer for WSDOT on the project. She said the work was about two-thirds of the way done. “People will really see things take shape next spring.”
The project, part of WSDOT’s $390 million investment along the busy stretch of I-5, is still on budget and on schedule, McFadden said.
As soon as the shoulder areas are excavated and paved, traffic will then be moved to the outside, so work on the inside lanes can take place next year.
WSDOT officials know construction has caused many headaches for drivers. There have been rolling slowdowns and congestion due to lane closures and adjustments.
“This is like one big construction zone,” Abbi Russell, spokesperson for WSDOT, said about the project that spans 18 miles from the Littlerock area to the Lewis-Thurston county line. “The good news is when we’re done it’ll be three lanes at least all the way through.”
There aren’t hard statistics, but McFadden and Russell agreed there have been noticeably more accidents and fender benders in the area as construction has ratcheted up.
“That’s a very busy area, and there’s a lot of traffic,” Russell said. “We want to make sure what we’re doing is not affecting drivers.”
Russell added that drivers have some responsibility to stay focused on the road and disregard the obvious distraction of bulldozers, and practice safe driving in general.
“It’s important for drivers to take it slow and keep their eyes on the road,” she said, as traffic can get “bunched up” in what has become a construction choke point.
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Marqise Allen: (360) 807-8237, Twitter @marqiseallen
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Upcoming Traffic Impacts
Look for single-lane closures on both directions of Interstate 5 from north Centralia to Grand Mound during the nighttime hours from now to Sept. 30.
Also expect traffic delays during the Labor Day holiday weekend. Look in Wednesday’s Chronicle for details on the best times to drive over the long weekend.
For more information on the freeway widening project, please visit WSDOT’s project website at www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/i5/mellentograndmound/phase1/.
