BLYN — After two wrecks in his construction zone on U.S. Highway 101, project manager Sean Coleman is asking drivers to slow down and stop rubbernecking.
Coleman works for Bruch & Bruch Construction, which is building west- and eastbound passing lanes on Highway 101 between Blyn Road and Old Blyn Highway.
The state Department of Transportation project began in early July and will continue until mid-October, affecting traffic from 6 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays.
The driver of a motor home veered into a ditch soon after work began, Coleman said.
“He was going slow, but he was gawking,” he added.
On July 31, a semi-truck slid off the road and tipped onto its side near the construction site.
Driver David Dewey Jr. suffered minor head injuries, the State Patrol said.
Dewey, 41, of Auburn, was treated and discharged that day from Olympic Medical Center.
State Patrol reported that inattention caused the wreck.
Signs advising motorists to reduce their speed to 35 mph are posted on either end of the construction zone now, and flaggers are directing traffic through the three-quarter-mile stretch where the new lanes are going in.
The road-widening is aimed at eliminating head-on collisions caused by unsafe passing, said Emily Pace, Transportation spokeswoman.
The project is also part of preparations for the May 2009 Hood Canal Bridge closure.
“This will help traffic flow more smoothly,” while the North Olympic Peninsula is without the bridge, Pace said.
The Blyn lanes are expected to cost $4.35 million, with $3.3 million of that funded by the state’s gasoline tax, she said, adding that a similar addition of passing lanes is planned on Highway 101 in Gardiner next year.
