The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) awarded a $31.1 million contract this week to Bellevue-based Tri-State Construction, Inc. to extend the Interstate 5 HOV network south from King County.
This two-year project adds carpool lanes on northbound and southbound I-5 from the King County line to the Port of Tacoma Road interchange in Fife, about three miles in each direction. Work begins later this summer.
Construction, funded in part by the 2003 and 2005 gas tax packages, includes more than $26 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). An estimated 130 jobs are supported by the I-5 Port of Tacoma Road Interchange to King County Line HOV project.
Tri-State’s bid amount of $31,095,383.05 is about 25 percent below estimated cost, continuing a trend directly linked to tough economic times.
WSDOT continues to piece together a series of Pierce County improvement projects that include the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge, the widening and
HOV lanes on State Route 16, the new northbound I-5 collector-distributor lanes between the Tacoma Mall and Tacoma Dome, and the ongoing work to replace the Nalley Valley Viaduct.
More information about WSDOT’s Tacoma/Pierce County HOV Program can be found at http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/piercecountyhov/ .
