Weekly Update -- April 26th -30th

PSE/Potelco completed their utility relocation and restoration work this week. Sefenco, the sub contractor for Comcast is on site working to relocate their aerial and underground cable facilities. Qwest ( phone), and Pilchuck (natural gas), are close to having their utility permits issued and should be starting their utility relocating efforts in May and June. The general contractor for the project should be officially awarded in late May and we expect them to be on site working in early June depending on their schedule.

Photo courtesy of K. Whyte, TC Project Inspector

Thurston County Connection Video

Please watch the video at Thurston County Connection as County Commissioners Wolfe, Romero, and Valenzuela talk to InterCity Transit, TRPC, and  Olympia and Thurston County project coordinators about the upcoming project and its affect on citizens and transportation.

Local Officials to Break Ground on Yelm Highway Project May 6

Thurston County commissioners and Olympia Mayor Doug Mah will break ground for the Yelm Highway Improvement Project on Thursday, May 6 at 2:00 p.m. The ceremony takes place on City of Olympia property across from Brassfield Road on Yelm Highway about a half-mile east from Henderson Boulevard.



County Commissioners Sandra Romero, Cathy Wolfe, and Karen Valenzuela, Mayor Mah, Stevan Gorcester, executive director of the State Transportation Improvement Board, and Intercity Transit General Manager Mike Harbour will speak at the ceremony.


The section of Yelm Highway between Henderson Boulevard and Rich Road (approximately 1.25 miles) will be widened to provide two travel lanes in each direction, sidewalks and bike lanes. Two roundabouts, one at Boulevard Road and one at Brassfield Street, will also be constructed. In conjunction with the county project, the City of Olympia will upgrade sewer and water utilities in the area. Construction, slated to begin in June, is expected to be completed by the end of 2011.


FUNDING :

Road Realignment
State Transportation  Improvement Board $3.9 Million

Thurston County $2.4 M

Federal Funds $1.6 M

City of Olympia $821,000

Intercity Transit $15,000

Olympia Utilities

Sewer: $3.8 Million

Water: $1 M

---

Project Total: $13.5 Million

The May 6th ceremony is free and open to the public. Project details are available at: yelmhighwayinfo.blogspot.com/ or by calling 754-4580


Funding numbers corrected: kib per ke 5.6.10

Miles Resources LLC Apparent Low Bidder

The twelve sealed bids were opened at 2:00 this afternoon by Thurston County Staff. By 2:30 it was announced that Miles Resources LLC, dba Woodworth & Co. of Tacoma, WA was the apparent low bidder with a submitted bid of $10,789,040.95.

The County Engineer's estimate on the project was $15,288,674.73.

For information on the bid tabulations visit The Builders Exchange website. For additional project information, contact Theresa Parsons, 360-754-4580.

Weekly Update April 5th -9th

The utilities contractors are continuing with their work, and the bid opening is set for next week.


Thurston County Public Works wants to take this opportunity to offer a few hints that we hope will help you to be less inconvenienced during the project.


Access to all businesses and residences along the project route will be open during the project and the entire road will remain open, with the exception of brief closures for work that requires it. We will do our best to keep the public apprised of these closures using our blog and Twitter. Be aware that  due to the nature of construction we cannot and do not guarantee that all closures will be announced ahead of time.





There will be traffic control personnel (flaggers) available to help guide you safely through the work zone.  A flagger's primary duty is to help assure the safety of the work crews AND the motoring, walking, and biking public. They must be alert to hazards at all times.  Please help them out by following their instructions and not engaging them in conversation that may distract them from their duties.


There will be significant slow downs during peak traffic times. We suggest that you take a few minutes to check out possible detour routes, or plan different ways to get around the area. Because of the large number of construction projects in the area this summer, we will not be publishing specific detour routes. You can use these links to help you:
GOOGLE MAPS

View Larger Map

Thurston Geodata Center
Intercity Transit - For route changes
City of Olympia Public Works - Traffic Alerts

We will continue to keep you updated here as the project progresses.

Project Update March 29th - April 2nd

Potelco is continuing to work, mostly east of Boulevard Road. On Monday afternoon, April 5th, the traffic signal at Yelm Highway and Rich Road will be down for 15-30 minutes while Potelco cuts the power over from the old poles to the new poles. There will be flaggers, but please be patient during the operation.


Comcast is scheduled to begin work next week. They plan to begin work at Rich Road and work east.


Bid opening is scheduled for April 14, 2010, and it will take several weeks after that before the contractor will be ready to begin work.   (Note: "Bid Opening" is when the submitted sealed bids are looked at and the contracted is then awarded after verification of the apparent winning contractor's information.)

This project is being undertaken in cooperation with the cities of Olympia and Tumwater.


Ed Note: The Bid Opening has been moved to April 21st