By guest blogger Meagan McFadden

It’s done - the first 3 miles on Interstate 90 east of Snoqualmie Pass. In 520 days the contractor removed 1 million cubic yards of material, blasted 400,000 pounds of explosives during 177 hours of lane closures and poured 68,000 cubic yards of concrete to finish a brand new stretch of six lanes.

We celebrated the major milestone with project partners, elected officials and local business leaders on October 10. The completion of this 3-mile stretch is part of a $551 million project, funded by the 2005 gas tax, to improve reliability and safety between Hyak and Keechelus Dam.

However, with a major milestone complete on the project, we still have a couple more miles to go, scheduled to be finished in 2018. This stretch will reduce road closures caused by avalanches with the construction of two new bridges, add a lot more room for vehicles with a new lane in each direction and improve safety by getting the rock slopes stabilized. We will also improve movement of people, fish and wildlife with new bridges and culverts.

The improvements to the I-90 corridor don’t stop at Keechelus Dam. The Legislature allocated funding in the 2013 Transportation Budget to continue expanding I-90 to the Cabin Creek interchange. This stretch includes the first wildlife overcrossing to be constructed in the state. Construction is scheduled to begin 2015 and finish in 2019.

Although 3 miles of the project is complete, we still have a little more construction to do before we can call it quits for the season. The contractor is cleaning up the construction site in preparation for winter. Closures for rock blasting are scheduled to be complete by mid-October, but you will experience minor delays due to single-lane closures and rolling slowdowns through November.

 By guest blogger Meagan McFadden

Drivers traveling on I-90 this summer need to know before they go to avoid construction-related delays.

Several major road improvement projects will delay you if you drive over I-90 this year as we improve sections of roadway across a 50-mile stretch.

Crews are scheduled to start work again in mid-April on a dozen projects that add lanes, build bridges, repave bridge decks and repair cracked sections of pavement.

Construction at several locations east of Snoqualmie Pass will require single-lane closures and rolling slowdowns this summer, which will add to travel time. During construction, drivers need to add at least an hour to their east-west trips, especially if trying to catch a flight or make a time-sensitive appointment.

It’s going to be a very busy construction season on I-90 and when we say, ‘plan ahead’, we mean it. We’re letting you know now, so you can take the surprise out of your trip and plan accordingly.

We have a wide variety of resources to help drivers take the surprise out of their trips across I-90 this year. Drivers can find information on multiple websites, including the What’s Happening on I-90, Snoqualmie Mountain Pass and Traffic Alerts pages. Drivers can also follow us on Twitter @snoqualmiepass and @wsdot_passes or sign up for email updates. While on the road, drivers can use our travel time signs to find out how long it will take them to get to their destination.
                                                                                                                      
In mid-April, crews resume work on a $551 million project that builds a wider, safer and more reliable stretch of I-90 from Hyak to Keechelus Dam. Later this spring, crews on this 5-mile-long project will resume blasting along the rock slopes east of Snoqualmie Pass. Drivers need to plan for hour-long closures, Mondays through Thursdays, starting an hour before sunset. Due to the nature of blasting operations this year, some closures may last longer than an hour.

In late April, crews will begin deck repair on five bridges along I-90 between Easton and Ellensburg. Crews will remove a thin layer of the existing bridge deck, repair damaged concrete, reinforce the deck with steel and repave with asphalt. Crews will also begin repaving deteriorating pavement in both directions west of Easton Hill. Drivers could experience delays of up to 15 minutes Monday through Friday through the work zone.

By guest blogger Meagan McFadden

Drivers traveling across Interstate 90 have patiently waited to hear these words: Delays related to work zones on Snoqualmie Pass are almost finished until next year. Rock-blasting closures are done for the season, the new westbound lanes are open to traffic and roadside work zones will be cleared by November.

The new wider lanes opened to traffic on Oct. 19 between Hyak and Rocky Run Creek

Despite very rainy conditions, a stalled semi-truck in the construction zone and a delayed asphalt truck, all lanes of I-90 opened to traffic on Oct. 19. Travelers are now driving on a stretch of new, wider westbound lanes and bridges between Hyak and Rocky Run Creek.

It has taken four years, more than 84,000 dump-truck loads of material, 163 closures for rock blasting and enough concrete to fill over 470,000 wheelbarrows to reach this first major milestone. By next fall the first three miles of the five-mile project will be complete, with the remaining two miles of six-lane roadway and bridges scheduled to be complete in 2017.

This work is part of the $551 million I-90 Snoqualmie Pass East – Hyak to Keechelus Dam project, which widens a five-mile stretch of the highway from four to six lanes and improves travel reliability and safety.

We still have more dump-trucks to fill, rock blasting to complete and more concrete to pour, but as winter weather closes in, we are taking a break until next spring.