Decades of wear and broken concrete buried under sections of State Route 164 make for bumpy driving through Enumclaw. The vibration of traffic shudders through the roadway and sidewalks.
Today, contractor crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation began a project to repave 1.5 miles of SR 164 between High Point Street and State Route 410. They also will upgrade more than 90 sidewalk ramps and install a new traffic light at the intersection of SR 410 and Watson Street.
“The highway through town was last paved in 1998,” said WSDOT project engineer Hien Trinh. “Since then, vehicle and foot traffic has increased. Repairing, repaving, upgrading pedestrian ramps and a new signal will significantly improve the drive through Enumclaw and make it safer for both drivers and pedestrians.”
Crews from contractor ICON Materials started replacing the sidewalk ramps this morning. They will work first at High Point Street and continue moving east on SR 164 toward SR 410. The sidewalk work will require roadway shoulder closures through spring and summer. As crews rebuild each ramp and pour new concrete, the nearby sidewalk will be closed around the clock for several days. Pedestrians will be directed where to cross. There also could be weekday lane closures or traffic shifts from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Although most work will occur during the day, some nighttime work for paving starts in early June. Drivers should expect full highway closures, single-lane closures and traffic shifts from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., as crews remove old and buried concrete in some areas, grind down the existing pavement in other locations, repave and add high-visibility striping.
The new traffic signal at Watson Street and SR 410 will maintain safety for steadily increasing traffic, both vehicle and pedestrian, as studies have shown over the last five years. WSDOT will install the new signal later this summer.
Work on this $3.2 million project is expected to be complete by early fall.
Drivers can stay up to date on the work progress and project schedule by checking the construction update report.
More information about the work to improve SR 164 is available on the project website at http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/sr164/highptsttowatsonstnpaving/.
