May 20, 2015

WSDOT opens new traffic control center

Photos from PCL Construction Services [enlarge]

[enlarge]

PCL Construction Services last month finished the state's new 17,850-square-foot traffic management center on a parking lot adjacent to WSDOT's Northwest Region headquarters on Dayton Street in Shoreline.

PCL and Tetra Tech in 2013 won an $8.93 million design-build contract for the project, which is expected to help ease traffic woes for commuters.

The center houses a 2,500-square-foot operating room equipped with monitors that allow WSDOT personnel to observe regional traffic, as well as tunnels on Interstate 90 and state Route 99, and toll stations on state Route 520.

“The center is located adjacent to the existing facility, which required our project team to tie into the existing building for direct monitoring and communication capability,” said Tom Doig, PCL vice president and district manager, in a news release. “WSDOT operations teams work 24/7 making sure our roads are safe, meaning we had to be extremely precise with our schedule.”

The new building also houses an emergency operations center where WSDOT operators can manage natural disasters, crises, and other traffic-related emergencies. The building is expected to obtain LEED silver certification.

WSDOT operated its traffic management center for 23 years on one floor of the six-story Dayton headquarters. Over that time, the control center became crowded and the outdated equipment room got so hot that it caused computers to fail.