Expect delays as crews begin to repave Mount Baker Highway

JARED PABEN - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

E-Mail

Print Reprint

Text Size:

tool goes here

Highway crews will begin a project to repave 17 miles of the Mount Baker Highway on Monday, July 13, and lane closures will mean some delays for drivers, according to the state Department of Transportation.

The total $5.3 million project will repave the highway between Bellingham and Kendall. On Monday, crews at Granite Northwest of Everett will start on the section between Britton Road and Nugents Corner. The DOT signed a $3.56 million contract with Granite Northwest to do the work.

"It's just going to make the drive so much more enjoyable, I would hope, for people that drive the road regularly," DOT spokeswoman Bronlea Mishler said.

DOT projects in Whatcom County

The crews will use a process that's new to the DOT. Called hot in-place paving, it involves equipment that removes old asphalt, mixes it, lays it back down and compacts it all at the same time. It recycles most of the existing asphalt.

The project also involves making safety improvements to the highway, including updating signs and guardrails, repainting lines, replacing the raised yellow "turtle shell" pavement markers and installing rumble strips. Crews will also repave a half-mile stretch of Highway 9 between Mount Baker Highway and Smith Creek.

The work will result in lane closures until the end of September, but engineers don't expect delays to be more than 10 minutes, Mishler said.

On Monday and Tuesday, work will last between 5 a.m. and 2 p.m. between Bellingham and Nugents Corner. Work also will take place from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday between Nugents Corner and the Coal Creek bridge, which is east of Deming.

During the project, the work schedule likely will change but most of the work will take place during the day, Mishler said.

Drivers heading far up the highway also should plan for possible delays near the Nooksack River Bridge in the Glacier area. Crews will be restricting the bridge to a single lane of traffic while doing repairs and maintenance.