A curvy Everett on-ramp prone to crashes in wet weather will get a new kind of surface treatment.
Contractor crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation will close the ramp over an upcoming weekend (the work is weather dependent). A detour will be posted.
The process, high friction surface treatment, involves attaching a sand-like aggregate to the roadway surface using industrial strength glue. The grittier roadway surface gives tires extra traction when the roadway surface is wet.
In 2014, wet weather was a contributing factor in 17 crashes, nearly 74 percent of all crashes, on the ramp.
This project is the first of its kind for WSDOT in Puget Sound, although the emerging technology has been used with success elsewhere in the country.
WSDOT is giving the 148th Avenue SE on-ramp to I-90 in Bellevue the same treatment.
* This article was updated June 9, 2015. WSDOT previously planned to close the ramp June 12-15 to do the work. They have postponed the job and will announce a new weekend closure.
* June 17, 2015: The work is now scheduled for June 19-22.
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