Description
Addressing safety concerns, Tapani Underground is building an interchange for state Route 500, which will route traffic across a bridge over the top of Northeast 112th Avenue/Gher Road.
Currently, the area of Route 500 that intersects with Northeast 112th Avenue/Gher Road is designated by the state Department of Transportation as a “high accident location” section of highway. The existing intersection is at-grade with stoplights, which impedes traffic flow and causes safety issues.
Eliminating the need for vehicles to stop at traffic signals will improve traffic safety by reducing rear end accidents, as well as relieve congestion caused by vehicles reducing speed to stop at traffic lights. Planners predict that construction of the interchange will reduce all accidents at this spot by 40 percent.
Access improvements include constructing three new ramps to take vehicles from northbound Interstate 205 and eastbound Route 500 across to Northeast 112th/Gher Road. The ramps will alleviate traffic congestion by reducing the need for vehicles to change lanes and merge.
Travel will also be made safer for bicyclists and pedestrians. The contractor will construct sidewalks underneath the Route 500 interchange that will connect with Northeast 112th Avenue and Gher Road, and add bike lanes that will connect with Gher Road.
In addition, the project includes efforts to reduce the noise impact on nearby homes by erecting noise walls on northbound I-205 south of the Route 500 exit. Earth berms, currently in place along Route 500, will remain after the highway modifications are complete and also act as noise barriers.
Work will include three new detention ponds to accommodate runoff from the roads. Retaining walls will be built to confine the project to the existing right-of-way.
The SR-500, Northeast 112th Avenue/Gher Road Interchange project is the third in a series of interchange installations along Route 500 aimed at creating safer roadways and less congestion.
|
Contractor:
Tapani Underground, 1904 S.E. Sixth
Place, Battle Ground, WA 98604,
(360) 687-1148
Engineer:
Chuck Ruhsenberger, Area Engineer,
WSDOT Columbia River Gorge
Project Office, P.O. Box 1709,
11018 N.E. 51st Circle, Vancouver,
WA 98682-6686, (360) 759-1310
|
|
Other Participants
|
|
Able Fence
|
Brothers Concrete Cutting
|
Coral Construction
|
|
CSI Geosynthetics
|
Davis Hydroseeding
|
Dennis Seven Dees Landscaping
|
|
Familian NW
|
Hanson Pipe & Products
|
Hatch Western
|
|
Hildebrand Concrete
|
Mill Plain Electric
|
Norma Griffith Trucking
|
|
Peterson Brothers
|
Rinker Materials
|
Sarkinen Road Construction
|
|
Selby Bridge Co.
|
Specialized Pavement Marking
|
SSL
|
|
Taylor Trucking
|
The Reinforced Earth Company
|
Western States Paving Co.
|
|
