Question: The state Department of Transportation reported earlier this month that it’s about to start building a short segment of the cross-base highway in Pierce County.
That prompted several people in our newsroom to question how that could be, since voters rejected funding for the cross-base project last year.
We put the question to DOT officials.
Answer: The cross-base highway has been on the drawing board for years. Saying it would benefit commuters and the movement of freight, political leaders have been pushing for the 6-mile roadway that would cut between Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base by connecting Highway 7 in East Pierce County with Interstate 5.
But politicians and voters haven’t been able to agree on how to pay for it. The most recent chapter in the saga was last November, when voters in the tri-county area rejected a roads-and-transit measure that included money for the cross-base highway.
That left most – but not all – of the project on hold.
DOT officials have divided the overall plan into five projects. One of those is about to get under way.
Earlier this month, the state awarded a $7.35 million contract to Ceccanti Inc. to widen a 0.7-mile stretch of Spanaway Loop Road.
The project will widen that portion of the highway to five lanes. It also will provide dual left-turn lanes onto Spanaway Loop Road, alleviating congestion in the mornings, and dual right-turn lanes onto Highway 7, addressing congestion in the evenings, said Troy Cowan, a DOT project development engineer.
Construction is expected to start in late July and wrap up in June 2009.
This project will provide benefits independent of the rest of the cross-base project by reducing congestion at the intersection of Spanaway Loop Road and Highway 7, Cowan said. About 38,000 vehicles pass through that intersection each day.
“This will have an immediate impact on motorists,” Cowan said.
The overall cross-base highway project was estimated in 2006 to cost $318 million, though the cost has likely gone up since then.
When completed, DOT officials say, the 6-mile highway will reduce delays on I-5, Highway 512, Highway 7 and nearby county roads.
It’s unclear when politicians will again consider a financing plan for the overall project. More information about the cross-base highway is available on the DOT’s Web site, www.wsdot.wa.gov. Type “cross-base highway” in the search field.
Got a question about traffic congestion, construction, spending or other transportation issues? Send it to traffic@thenewstribune.com. Include your name, hometown and daytime telephone number. We’ll answer as many as we can. Find an archive of previous answers at www.thenewstribune.com/news/traffic/qa.
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