HOLIDAY SCHEDULE

Memorial Weekend Schedule - Construction Tuesday through Friday.

There will be no construction during Memorial Weekend, however, the contractor will change their work schedule during this week to Tuesday May 31st through Friday June 3rd.

Sewer

Sewer installation continues to make its way east and is currently between Stratford Lane and Siskiyou Lane.

Boulevard Construction - North End.

The contractor will be working for the next couple weeks on the north end of Boulevard; this should be a minimal impact to traffic.

Are you finding these maps helpful? Drop us a line at via Twitter -- yelmhighwayinfo@twitter.com or email to Yelm Highway Webmaster

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THE  SOUNDWALL
(Thank you S. Bricker)

Construction Impacts - May 23 to June 9th

Click on Graphics for larger view.

Boulevard to Rich Rd.

In addition to the sewer work down the center of Yelm Hwy, drivers can expect a large portion of the roadway between Boulevard and Rich Road to be closed to traffic during the construction of the sewer line.  So far, this has been the southern half of the road in order to speed up the flow of construction vehicles and ultimately lessen the duration of the project.  Currently the sewer is being installed between Stratford Lane and Siskiyou St.

 

Henderson to Brassfield Drive

The contractor will be preparing for and begin pouring curbs between Henderson and Brassfield Drive, and also constructing a sound wall on both sides of the highway.  Drivers can expect intermitted lane reductions depending on the needs of the contractor.

 

Boulevard-Yelm Highway Intersection-June 2011

At the beginning of June the contractor will begin the process of turning the Yelm Hwy-Boulevard intersection into a roundabout.  Over the period of one day the contractor will remove the asphalt, haul in gravel to bring the surface up to the final elevation, and establishing driving lanes in the shape of a roundabout using cones and signs.  Concrete curbs and asphalt will then be constructed in sections over time.

Thank you to D. Hall for the graphics and contributions to this blog!

The REAL soundwall

18' sewer trench

May 15-22 2011

The contractor will be performing mainline sewer work near Stratford Ln.  Storm sewer work will be taking place at Boulevard Rd and will be completed by the end of the week. 



 Widening will begin for the roundabout at Boulevard towards the end of the week. The Subcontractor Artisan Precast will be constructing Noise Walls along the North and South side of Yelm Hwy between Orvas Ct and Village Dr. 

This is just an example of a soundwall... not the real thing.

 Lakevue (Subcontractor) continues electrical and wet well work for the Sewer Lift Station.

Alternate Routes Map

Open for Business
Construction can be considerably tough on business in
the Yelm Highway construction area, so please try to allow room for other drivers to enter and exit businesses when traffic is stopped.




Main Traffic Impacts (See drawings)
Construction should be expected on Boulevard Road at the Yelm Highway intersection through this week and likely Monday. If all goes well work should cease at the Yelm
Hwy-Boulevard intersection.Construction will also continue chugging
along the center of Yelm Hwy centered around Stratford Lane.
Fortunately the trench line will move slightly northward during this
portion of the work and hopefully free up the southern portion of the
road.

Other Construction
Although traffic impact should be minimal to
nothing, expect additional work to take place along the road edges as
the contractor prepares for sidewalk/curb installation and street
lighting.Construction of the Sound/Retaining Walls begins this week starting on the South side of the road at Orvas Court, heading East. This work should not impact traffic, and will take place Monday through Friday.








Possible Alternate Routes
If you are just passing through the
Yelm Highway construction and are looking for an alternate route, but
haven't taken the time to look, here's a nifty map of suggested routes.

"Why No Detours?" and other things

Why no detours?

We are asked why we have no detour routes posted for the Yelm Highway project. At the beginning of the project, we considered posting “official” detours, but there were many issues with this.

The first issue is that there are so many properties that only have access off Yelm Highway, we couldn’t close the road, as they would have no other access.  There are also businesses that have access only off of Yelm Highway, and we wanted to make sure they could still get customers to their sites.  In preliminary meetings on this project, it was a clear desire from attendees that access be continued.

Another issue is that there is no convenient, relatively short detour route.  It really depends upon the origination and destination points of the trip taker, as there are multiple alternative routes that serve one traveler better than another based on where they are coming from and where they are going.  That is why we are strongly urging all potential trip takers down Yelm Highway to take a look at their start and end  points and take an alternative route that suits their needs the best.

One other major roadblock (pardon the pun) was the fact that all adjacent jurisdictions had major projects going on in the area. There was work happening on North St and Log Cabin Rd, and there was a sewer project on Henderson. Pretty much on any given day there was something going on along what would be an otherwise viable detour route. Rather than post routes that we could not control, it was decided to provide advanced notice of the project and hopefully allow people to find other routes on their own.  This would also lessen the impact of 20,000 cars a day driving along an official route, thus causing major headaches for other local residents.

Our blog went live in January of 2010, with suggestions to start seeking other possible commute routes and options.  Construction officially began on June 15^th, 2010.  We tried not to underplay the impact on the travelling public. We did not underestimate the inconvenience caused by the project. 

It was decided that we would try using the newfangled technology called Social Media to keep you informed of traffic status, and road conditions. Using Twitter and this blog, we have attempted to keep you up to date with daily traffic flows (RED, YELLOW, GREEN, or (Heaven forbid) BLACK), and schedules of upcoming work (as available), and also interesting tidbits and photos about the project.

This has been working favorably, insomuch as any first attempt can, and we feel that it has been quite helpful and well received.  We have also been experimenting with 2-way communication with the public via Twitter and blog comments, allowing YOU to give us feedback and information to pass on.

So...  back to the question of detours.

While we still do not have any officially endorsed detours, our staff is able to make some suggestions if you want to contact us. Please remember, these routes will take you through residential streets with possibly lower speed limits, and we ask that you be watchful and careful as children and pets in these areas are not used to the increased quantities and frequency of traffic.

AND...  The Other Things:

Intercity Transit has moved their Yelm Highway Route to Wilderness because they cannot guarantee their schedule. Please see this link for revised route information

Construction Impacts Ahead

Paving - Thursday May 5th

Drivers can expect paving (Shown in Yellow)  to take place on Boulevard, just north of the Yelm Hwy intersection, and also to take place on Yelm Highway from the Boulevard intersection past Boulevard Extension.  This should patch up a few bumpy areas!

Sewer, Sewer, and More Sewer

The contractor continues to slice its way down the center of Boulevard Rd., and Yelm Highway with its final destination at Rich Road in the near future.  See the attached map for approximate impacts to traffic in the next couple of weeks.

Drivers can expect the sewer work and paving down the center of Boulevard and Yelm Highway in these locations to cause significant disruptions to traffic and should seek alternate routes if possible.

courtesy of D. Hall