It’s by no means Auburn’s carmageddon, but motorists are advised to avoid a well-used section of the West Valley Highway in the many weeks ahead to make way for a long-awaited improvement project.
Prep work already is under way for a $4 million project to reconstruct the worn roadway, a longtime alternative route for commuters and commercial traffic.
The section of the two-lane highway from State Route 18 to West Main Street will be closed between today (Aug. 29) and approximately Friday, Oct. 21 to allow for the upgrade of a new, expanded and safer roadway.
The intersection at West Valley Highway and West Main Street will remain open during the reconstruction period to accommodate business and the delayed flow of detoured traffic. But the intersection will be subject to intermittent lane restrictions and closures.
West Main, C Street Southwest and 15th Street Southwest will be signed detour routes.
Construction, weather dependent, is expected to continue until the end of the year, project coordinators said.
The highway is expected to reopen after Oct. 21, but reconstruction will continue and motorists can expect delays. Motorists are advised to avoid the area.
“It will be (an inconvenience) but the improvements are needed simply because the roadway has deteriorated to the point where it has to be replaced,” said Jacob Sweeting, a project manager and engineer for the City of Auburn Public Works Department.
Significant rainfall and runoff from the hillside essentially have made the road unstable, Sweeting added.
The worn roadway surface is prone to cracks, potholes, wheel ruts and damage caused by surface drainage and groundwater seepage, City officials said.
The highway project is about 16 years in coming, Mayor Pete Lewis said. The City’s wait ended when the Washington State Transportation Improvement Board kicked in the grant money to make it possible.
“People have asked for this to be fixed for so long, but now that we are doing it, it will create a temporary inconvenience,” Lewis said. “We sat in line for the project … and we finally got the funds from the state to do it.”
The goal of the project is to make the highway corridor an efficient and safe arterial street, City officials said.
The City’s plans call for rebuilding and widening the 1,870-foot section of West Valley Highway South from Highway 18 to West Main Street, as follows:
• Adding two bike lanes, a sidewalk built of pervious concrete along the southbound lane and fill slopes.
• Relocating 1,070 feet of existing ditches.
• Installing 2,351 feet of storm drainage piping, 63 feet of culvert, bio-retention swales in the roadway median and 36 linear feet of new retaining wall.
• Making room for a center median and extended turn lanes.
• Relocating a water main.
• Replacing the signal at the intersection of West Valley Highway and West Main Street. The intersection will be fitted with a new signal system. The existing traffic signal is over 50 years old and does not meet current standards, officials said.
Furthermore, trucks and large vehicles periodically have hit the signal poles at the intersection corners. New poles will be set back from the corners that will be widened to accommodate turning vehicles.
Highway improvements were needed to improve traffic flow.
During peak traffic times, northbound traffic backs up at the signal near the SR 18 overpass and blocks the turn pocket that serves traffic turning east onto the eastbound SR 18 on ramp. The City has determined that the congestion and delays can be alleviated by extending turn pocket lengths and adding a center median.
