Construction, Lane Restrictions on Oregon's 99E Near Eugene and Albany
Published 05/06/2010
(Albany, Oregon) – Two parts of Oregon highway 99E will have some travel restrictions in the coming days and weeks. A bridge near Harrisburg was damaged and requires some work for a time, and an overpass in Albany will begin a few months of work and traffic alterations.
In Springfield, travel will be restricted to a single lane across the Willamette River Bridge on OR 99E near Harrisburg, after an over-height truck struck and damaged the bridge Monday night, May 3.
In addition to the lane restriction, a weight restriction of 40,000 pounds will be enforced until structural repairs can be completed in the next two weeks.
The impact from the over-height truck damaged two vertical supports and two overhead braces that will take a combination of repair and replacement before traffic can return to normal.
Truck traffic will detour around the bridge. Vehicles over 40,000 pounds will need to detour around the bridge. Overweight vehicles traveling south will detour east on La Salle St. and then south on 6th and Coburg Rd. out of Harrisburg. Trucks traveling north will detour northwest on McMullen Ln. to Noraton Rd. Signs will direct trucks to the detour route.
Flaggers will be stationed at the bridge 24-hours-per-day and Variable Message Signs will alert motorists of the bridge restrictions.
Motorists should expect ten minute delays as the result of the lane closure on the bridge.
Meanwhile, north of the Eugene area, the Oregon Department of Transportation has selected a Willamette Valley company to make improvements to OR 99E between Chicago Street and the Standard Pacific Railroad overpass in Albany.
North Santiam Paving of Stayton, OR will begin construction next week on the $620,000, federally funded project.
The purpose of the project is to increase safety, reduce accidents and improve traffic flow along the OR 99E corridor in Albany. The area between Madison and Geary streets ranks among the highest in the state for the number of accidents.
To accomplish that, the project will:
Construct a concrete island where Pacific Blvd. and Santiam Hwy. merge at Geary Street, to prevent sudden lane changes;
Improve ADA sidewalk ramps at Pacific Blvd. and Cleveland St.;
Improve ADA sidewalk ramps at Pacific Blvd. and Pine St.;
Construct a concrete island at Pacific Blvd. and Sherman St. to allow right-in and right-out turns but prevent crossing Pacific on Sherman;
Create a concrete road barrier to allow for turns onto northbound Main St. from Pacific Blvd. only. Southbound traffic on Main will have local access but will dead-end at Pacific. Northbound traffic on Main will be allowed to turn left onto Pacific but not be allowed to cross Pacific;
Reconstruct the intersection of Pacific Blvd. and Hill St., adding new traffic signals. Southbound traffic on Hill will have a new dedicated left turn lane onto 9th;
Place new stop signs for motorists on Madison at 7th St. and remove stop signs on 7th. Traffic on 7th St. will no longer have to stop;
Create new deceleration lane on Pacific Blvd. beginning at Madison St. for right turns onto the Jackson St. ramp. The left lane will merge with the center lane and become a through-lane along with the right hand lane;
The on-ramp to Pacific Blvd. from Jackson St. will be closed to passenger vehicles and trucks, and available only for emergency vehicles.
While much of the work will be conducted at night, motorists should expect lane closures and detours at some of the intersections during construction. The greatest traffic impacts will occur during the rebuilding of Hill Street, which is scheduled to last 14 days. The ramp to Jackson Street will be closed for approximately four weeks.
No business will lose access during construction; however access could be temporarily rerouted. Signs will alert motorists when that occurs.
The project is expected to be completed by the end of August.
For the latest on road conditions, visit www.tripcheck.com for more information.
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