PORT ANGELES — Crews today are expected to stripe and install posts along the center of U.S. Highway 101 at Deer Park Road and Buchanan Drive to funnel traffic through the new Clallam County underpass there, County Engineer Ross Tyler said.
The contractor, Scarsella Bros. Inc., planned to separate eastbound and westbound traffic to restrict left turns across the four-lane highway from the two county roads east of Port Angeles.
Deer Park Road and Buchanan Drive are now linked by Deer Park Loop and its arch underpass.
“What they don’t get done tonight, they’ll work on tomorrow night,” Tyler said Wednesday.
The half-mile Deer Park Loop and revamped Deer Park rest area opened without fanfare Sept. 9.
Crews continue to put the finishing touches on the $4.8 million, federally funded safety improvement project.
“We still have a few weeks left in tying up the loose ends,” Tyler said.
Small posts resembling those on the Morse Creek S-curve will be installed in the center of the highway through the area to discourage drivers from turning left across the highway.
Triangular-shaped islands will be painted today and raised next week where Deer Park Road and Buchanan Drive meet the highway to angle merging traffic onto new acceleration lanes, Tyler said.
Crews had panned to begin separating eastbound and westbound traffic Tuesday night.
“Things didn’t go as well last night as they expected, so they’re going to be working again tonight,” Tyler said.
A Scarsella Bros. worker discovered a small hole on the highway surface in the left westbound lane just east of the Deer Park project area Tuesday night.
State Department of Transportation spokesman Doug Adamson said it was unclear what caused the several-inch-wide void.
“We closed the lane until we could get a good look,” he said.
The hole was repaired Wednesday.
“We were lucky we got on top of it,” Adamson said.
“We appreciate them letting us know about it.”
Scarsella Bros. is the same Kent-based contractor that is widening U.S. Highway 101 to four lanes along a 3.5-mile, two-lane stretch between Port Angeles and Sequim.
Crews broke ground on the county underpass project in August 2013.
No date for a planned ribbon-cutting ceremony has been set, Tyler said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
