Road construction projects to resume Monday
Road construction machinery being used for a State Route 17 slope stabilization project just north of Soap Lake is parked over the week of July 4, but crews will be back working Monday. The goal of the project is to remove loose rock or rock that may become loose due to erosion to improve safety.
R. HANS MILLER/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Work has been halted on road projects throughout Central and Eastern Washington over the week of July 4, but is expected to resume Monday, including along State Route 17 north of Soap Lake.
SOAP LAKE — The slope stabilization project on State Route 17 north of Soap Lake is scheduled to be finished sometime between late August and early September.
The project area is the section of SR 17 from Soap Lake to the Lake Lenore Caves, where the road runs between Soap Lake or Lake Lenore and the rock embankment. The idea is to stabilize the rock face.
Crews are climbing the rock face, removing loose rock as they go. Rocks that are stable now but might be subject to erosion are being bolted to the still-stable rocks behind them. But there’s still the potential for falling rock, so metal netting will be installed to keep rocks from landing in the road.
The installation of the netting will require closing the road. The road closure is still to be scheduled.
During constriction hours traffic is subject to 20-minute delays through the project zone. Drivers are stopped for 20 minutes, traffic is let through in one direction, then the other direction, then traffic is stopped for 20 minutes. Loads more than 12 feet wide are prohibited in the construction zone during work hours.
Drivers along SR 17 through Moses Lake already know, but the project to resurface seven miles between Patton Boulevard and the Interstate 90 intersection is almost complete.
About two inches of the road surface were removed, then the road resurfaced through the project area. All of the paving is complete; crews have started on the striping, are updating signals and working on the Stratford Road overpass.
A section of US Highway 2 northwest of Leavenworth will be undergoing repairs starting Monday.
Crews will be planning, repaving and generally repairing the five-mile section from Leavenworth to the intersection of Highway 2 and State Route 207 (known locally as the Big Y, but officially the Don Senn Memorial Interchange), according to a press release from the Washington Department of Transportation. Construction is scheduled for 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday through Thursday, with paving expected to be completed by about Aug. 5.
Crews also will be repairing the joints on the bridge over the Wenatchee River in downtown Leavenworth, the DOT release said. That work is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
“Travelers should expect lane closures and flagger-controlled traffic during working hours,” the DOT release said.
Most roadwork projects took a week off for the July 4 holiday, but the work starts back in earnest next week.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.
Work has been halted on road projects throughout Central and Eastern Washington over the week of July 4, but is expected to resume Monday, including along State Route 17 north of Soap Lake.