Williams Brothers sure didn't waste any time getting to work. Over the last two weeks they've gone through and set up their work zone and already started building foundations for bridge support structures. For drivers in the area, this means more than just a bunch of orange signs in the area.
For those who use the frontage roads of I-410 immediately north of Hwy 151 (in both directions), one lane has been eliminated. This is a long-term solution that avoids intermittent lane closures through the area while providing WB with adequate space to do their work around-the-clock, as we've come to expect on projects like this. The result is a few added minutes to the daily commute, but to date the issue hasn't proven terrible (though admittedly not fun for those who drive it).
Folks should be aware of overnight closures that may be employed as needed to do a variety of tasks on this project. Those closures will be announced weekly right here on the blog.
The overall project adds two direct connectors; one running traffic from eastbound Hwy 151 onto northbound I-410 and one running traffic from southbound I-410 onto westbound Hwy 151. These were selected based on where the heaviest traffic flow is at.
We are also building an auxiliary lane along both directions of I-410 between Hwy 151 and Ingram Road to allow a better flow for drivers at this traffic pinch-point. Some entrance and exit ramp realignments will also help improve things.
The project will be finished in 2017. Several traffic shifts will take place in that time - each major shift will be announced right here on our blog.
The existing situation, with traffic trimmed to two lanes on the northbound and southbound frontage roads of I-10 between Hwy 151 and the Slick Ranch Creek bridges, will remain until summer 2016.