Widening project targets Highway 14 congestion

The signs will show a green arrow when the lane is open, a red X when it’s closed and yellow arrows to show there’s reason ahead to watch out or exit the lane, such as repair work or emergencies.

WSDOT staff will monitor the roadway using traffic cameras — more cameras will be installed as part of the project — and will open or close the lane as needed.

WSDOT spokeswoman Tamara Greenwell said the project is meant to alleviate traffic along the highway as the number of drivers using Highway 14 and Interstate 205 during peak traffic times keeps growing.

The money for the $25 million project was initially slated for the Highway 14 West Camas Slough Bridge project, Greenwell said, a few miles east. The Legislature decided that the congestion between I-205 and 164th Avenue was a more pressing problem and moved the money toward the widening project during the 2017 legislative session.

An estimated $19.6 million of the total project cost will go to roadway design and construction, with $5.4 million allocated for one recommended noise wall roughly midway on the north side of the highway.

Design on the project started in 2017. The state has yet to put the project up for bidding from contractors. Construction is expected to start in late 2020 and run into 2022, Greenwell said.

There are already similar shoulder lanes in use in Washington. A stretch of northbound Interstate 405 in the east Seattle area uses the same dynamic signaling planned for Highway 14, and U.S. Highway 2 eastbound between Everett and the Snohomish and Lake Stevens areas has an extra lane open during weekday afternoons.

WSDOT says it plans to open peak-use shoulder lanes on Interstate 5 northbound between Everett and Marysville, as well.

Along the peak-use lane, there will also be emergency pullouts every third- to half-mile, so drivers can pull over if there’s a problem, said Laura Peterson, assistant project engineer.

Greenwell said WSDOT isn’t turning the shoulder lane into a proper lane to ensure maintenance crews still have somewhere to work access, and because of the added cost.

Peterson said the shoulder lane will also be somewhat wider, so it can still properly accommodate road crew work and emergency vehicles as needed.

“It’s a good way to use another lane during the peak periods,” she said. “When we’re not during peak periods, it’s just a safety shoulder.”

The project would also add a metered onramp from 164th Avenue onto Highway 14 to help, planners hope, ease merging drivers onto the highway heading east.