State Route 8 squeezed to one lane during repaving starting April 11

Preliminary work to begin April 3, separate project from fish barrier project to the west

By The Daily World • March 31, 2017 1:30 am
WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION This map details the two-year fish passage project at Wildcat Creek on State Route 8. The State Route 8/State Route 108 interchange will be closed starting March 31 and will remain closed throughout the length of the project.
WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION This map details the two-year fish passage project at Wildcat Creek on State Route 8. The State Route 8/State Route 108 interchange will be closed starting March 31 and will remain closed throughout the length of the project.

Two westbound sections of State Route 8 between McCleary and just east of the Thurston County line will be reduced to one lane as state Department of Transportation contractor crews start repaving projects Monday.

The repaving projects will be under way from now until July but are separate from the extensive traffic diversions that will inconvenience motorists on Highway 8 near McCleary for the next two years.

The single-lane closures because of repaving are scheduled to occur between 7 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. each weekday. Motorists will also encounter a reduced 35 mph speed limit through the work zone.

Affected segments of westbound State Route 8 are between mileposts 6.75 and 11.5, extending from McCleary to east of the Thurston County line; and mileposts 17.25 to 20.63, extending from the vicinity of Summit Lake to the Highway 101/State Route 8 junction.

Crews will begin preliminary work in the area on Monday. Paving is scheduled to start Tuesday, April 11. Weather permitting, the project is expected to be complete before July.

Advance information about this project is available from the Olympic Region Weekly Construction and Traffic Updates web page.

Compounding the inconvenience to motorists is the fact that the work occurs very near another State Route 8 project in McCleary in which the Department of Transportation is removing fish barriers and replacing them with bridges. Starting in mid-April, crews will reduce State Route 8 to one lane in each direction around the clock for two years. The State Route 8/State Route 108 interchange closed to traffic Friday, and will remain closed through the summer of 2019. During that time traffic will be diverted to the Mox Chehalis Road interchange to the east.

As early as Monday, April 10, State Route 8 will be reduced to one lane in each direction through summer 2019. During that time, the State Route 8 speed limit will be temporarily reduced from 60 mph to 45 mph for the duration of the two-year project.

WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION This map details the two-year fish passage project at Wildcat Creek on State Route 8. The State Route 8/State Route 108 interchange will be closed starting March 31 and will remain closed throughout the length of the project.

WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION This map details the two-year fish passage project at Wildcat Creek on State Route 8. The State Route 8/State Route 108 interchange will be closed starting March 31 and will remain closed throughout the length of the project.