EVERETT – A river of crushed asphalt is flowing off I-5 in Everett, carving a path for a new layer of blacktop.
The new asphalt is being laid down on all lanes of I-5 between Highway 526 and 41st Street SE.
The work, which is occurring at night, is already under way and could take two months. It’s part of the ongoing $263 million I-5 widening project through Everett.
Expect traffic backups as nighttime drivers cope with lane closures, abrupt edges, flying rocks and grooved pavement, say state traffic engineers.
The tough driving conditions also will affect the daytime commute.
“The road is going to be in rough shape. People need to slow down and be careful,” said Dave Doles, project manager for contractor Atkinson-CH2M Hill.
Last week, one of his construction workers was injured when a suspected drunken driver lost control of his vehicle and struck her as she tried to get out of the way.
“When there’s a collision between a car and a person, the person loses all the time,” said trooper Kirk Rudeen, a spokesman for the Washington State Patrol.
“These people are out there doing a job,” he said. “They have families. They want to go home at the end of their shifts. It’s not asking too much to slow down and be aware of them.”
Doles urged drivers to watch out for a crew of more than a half-dozen people doing their jobs with only plastic barrels and a few feet of space between them and traffic.
Tim Shields wants drivers to watch out for everyone working on the freeway, including his pavement grinding crew.
They’re driving a slow-moving contraption equipped with a carbide-blade tipped drum that spins at 100 rpm and creeps along at less than 5 mph, eating the old freeway surface a bite at a time.
“It’s a grinding, scraping device that contains the material collected so it can load out onto a conveyor belt,” said Shields, milling manager for Oregon-based Kodiak Benge Construction Co.
The blades, staggered on the drum, “plane up” the old asphalt, chopping it into small enough pieces for a conveyer belt, flowing like a river, to drop it into a dump truck that follows behind.
Two inches of asphalt is scraped away, with the carbide teeth, leaving grooves in the road bed.
Near the end of August, the work will shift to paving, which involves larger crews, more trucks and more vigilance.
Asphalt pavement needs to be replaced every seven to 10 years, said Mike Cotten, project director for the state Department of Transportation’s Everett I-5 widening project.
Concrete freeway surface, which runs from 41st Street SE to the Snohomish River, won’t be replaced. It’s more than 40 years old and still is in good shape, Cotten said.
Lane closures start at 9:30 p.m. in the northbound direction, and at 9 p.m. southbound, Cotten said. Each half-hour, another lane closes until three lanes are shut down, he said.
The road opens each morning by 5 a.m. in the southbound direction and by 6 a.m. in the northbound direction. Roads will be closed in selected areas over the next two months as crews move through the project area.
Reporter Lukas Velush: 425-339-3449 or lvelush@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
