SMOKEY POINT Motorists in Smokey Point, Arlington, Marysville and Bryant should factor road construction and closures into their drive times for the next few months.
Bridge 91 on Smokey Point Boulevard, just south of Highway 530, will be closed to traffic until at least mid-September as Snohomish County Public Works crews widen and renovate the nearly 90-year-old structure.
Bud Klintworth, bridge crew supervisor for Snohomish County Public Works, explained that the bridge would be widened from 19 to 28 feet, between its railings, to bring it up to current standards, while its existing deck would be removed and replaced.
Itll still sit on the same arch, but well have to empty and refill chambers in that arch, Klintworth said. Well be using light-weight concrete, not compacted concrete. There was a proposal to fill those voids with foam, but itd be too hard to fill the voids completely with foam. Our goal is not to add any weight to the structure.
Klintworth elaborated that the new deck of the bridge would arch in the middle to allow water to run off. While this is standard practice now, it wasnt when the bridge was built.
Snohomish County Public Works crews have already removed the existing deck and railings on the south end of the bridge, but theyll also need to correct the approaches to both ends of the widened bridge.
Its skewed, with one side longer than the other, so well have to square it up for the slabs, Klintworth said. Well have to dig down 20 feet to support the slabs and then lay down the geo-textile soil wraps to lift it.
While the bridge will be completely closed through mid-September, the intersection of Highway 9 and 108th Street NE (Lauck Road) in Marysville is only expected to be closed for 15 days, as Washington State Department of Transportation crews install a southbound right-turn lane and both northbound and southbound left-turn lanes, to decrease congestion and collisions alike.
Well basically be dismantling and rebuilding a third of a mile of road, said Patty Michaud, communications consultant with WSDOT. Were shooting for the closure to start July 9, but it wont be before then. There wont be any other closures there.
Michaud nonetheless estimated that the intersection improvement could continue as late as winter and advised motorists to exercise extra caution during this construction period, especially since the width of the shoulder has been narrowed to as little as two feet by concrete barriers.
Michaud also emphasized safety as a concern for the construction projects on Highway 9 between Schloman Road and 268th Street (Stanwood-Bryant Road), from Arlington to Bryant.
Our crews are working south to north, so were currently working on straightening the curve at Schloman Road before we begin work on the intersections further north, Michaud said. With the angle going up that hill, visibility is not that great, so we want to improve drivers line-of-sight.
WSDOT is likewise planning a northbound left-turn lane for the Highway 9 intersection with 252nd Street (Kackman Road), as well as northbound and southbound left-turn lanes for the Highway 9 intersection with 268th Street.
Were tentatively planning to have full Highway 9 closures with detours in the spring and summer of 2008, in time to reopen the road in the late fall of that same year, Michaud said. In the meantime, well be having alternating lane closures. Drivers should keep an eye out for flaggers and crews.
Michaud credited the Snohomish County Public Utility District with removing trees along the sides of Highway 9 during the past few weeks, in the process of moving utility poles to clear out of WSDOT crews right-of-way.