Boom times will soon be back, at least for drivers in Highway 20 north of Oak Harbor.
Explosives will be used along the highway in two weeks as state crews make room for a wider, safer stretch of road, north of Deception Pass in Skagit County.
Starting Monday, March 23, crews will close the highway nightly from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays to blast and remove rock along the shoulders of SR 20.
Dave Chesson, WSDOT spokesman, said the blasting is part of a larger $34.3 million project that supports 85 construction-related jobs. The contractor is utilizing local subcontractors, equipment and materials for some of the work.
Crews have already widened the lanes and shoulders between Meadow Creek and South Lake Campbell Road, built a bridge at Meadow Creek and improved two intersections. Crews are now focused on widening lanes and intersection improvements between Lake Campbell Road and the Miller/Gibraltar Road intersection.
Crews will use explosives to blast through layers of rock lining the shoulders of the highway between the north and south end of Miller Road. Besides widening the lanes and shoulders through this area, crews will reduce the hill by 10 feet to improve sight distance.
The work will take approximately eight weeks to complete. Crews will do one blast per night, around dusk,, and then will spend the rest of the night excavating rock and stabilizing the hillsides.
Traffic will be detoured around the blasting via Miller Road and a pilot car. The detour is short, but will still cause some delays for drivers.
“If everything goes smoothly, the excavation and highway closures will be complete by the end of May,” Chesson said. The project is scheduled to be complete this fall.
For more specific project details, visit the project page www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR20/QuietCove_SR20spur/.
