A contractor for ODOT began construction in January 2013 on a project to make operational and safety improvements on the length of OR 217 in Washington County. There is a high crash rate on OR 217 contributing to congestion on the highway. The goal of this project is to improve safety and reliability on OR 217. Project elements include:
* Widen right shoulders on three sections of OR 217 (see map). The benefit of shoulder widening is to provide needed space to clear incidents from the roadway more quickly and more room for emergency responders to navigate.
* Improve signage in the OR 217 corridor, including installing variable message signs on OR 217, Barnes Road, Kruse Way and OR 99W
* Pave both directions of OR 217 from TV Highway to I-5 (the section of OR 217 from TV Highway to U.S. 26 was recently paved in 2012 in a separate project)
* Upgrade center median barrier
Construction began January 2013 and will be complete in 2014.
Traffic Impacts
Throughout the project, there will be intermittent daytime shoulder closures and intermittent nighttime lane closures on OR 217. Read the weekly construction news for current traffic impacts, updated every Friday.
Nighttime Noise
Traffic volumes are too high on OR 217 for lane closures during the day. Any work requiring lane closures, which is the majority of construction, will take place at night. ODOT has obtained noise variances from the jurisdictions involved for the nighttime work. A 24-hour noise hotline is available that can called at all hours if a noise concern arise. That number is 503-646-0231.
For more information, contact: