Entertainment - Fair

POSTED: Friday, Aug. 14, 2009

DOT: Pole Road roundabout will be open in time for fair

Crews will be doing lots of last-minute work, but the state Department of Transportation will have the new roundabout at Pole Road and Guide Meridian open before the Northwest Washington Fair, a DOT spokeswoman said.

Highway crews plan to do final paving and striping work at the roundabout - the second to open along the Guide Meridian - all day Sunday, Aug. 16. That could mean significant delays for drivers and for people headed to the fairgrounds in Lynden for fair setup.

But crews will have the roundabout open before the fair begins on Monday morning, DOT spokeswoman Bronlea Mishler said. She called coordinating subcontractor schedules to get the two-lane, concrete roundabout built in three weeks a "very fun, complicated logistical ballet."

The fair draws more people than any other Whatcom County event, and many use the Guide Meridian to get there.

Finishing work on the roundabout on Sunday includes:

• 5 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Crews will do paving work on the driving lanes and approaches to the new roundabout. They'll close it to one lane.

• 7 p.m. to midnight: Crews will stripe the lanes and new roundabout. Flaggers will be on hand to alternate traffic through the work zone.

The DOT already has opened the first Guide Meridian roundabout, at Ten Mile Road. Two more will follow the Pole Road one, at Wiser Lake and River roads.

The roundabouts are part of a larger $53.9 million project that will transform the Guide Meridian into a safer, less congested four-lane divided highway.

The DOT is encouraging drivers to use alternate routes Sunday but not on Monday.

"During fair week, however people want to get up there is fine and dandy with us," Mishler said.

FOLLOW THE PROJECT

For updates on the Guide Meridian project, go to Guidemeridian.blogspot.com.