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| Woodburn Interchange moves ahead |
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| 03/29/2010 |
March 29, 2010 For more information: Lou Torres (503) 986-2880
03-063-R2 email at: mailto:louis.c.torres@odot.state.or.us
Woodburn Interchange Project moves ahead on several fronts
WOODBURN—The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is moving ahead on several fronts with the Woodburn Interchange Project including right of way acquisition, implementation of access management provisions, and compressing the schedule further. ODOT staff presented the update to the Woodburn City Council at its regular March 22 meeting.
The project lacked funding until 2009 when the Oregon Legislature passed House Bill 2001, the Jobs and Transportation Act (JTA), which included $43 million to partially fund the Woodburn Interchange Project. The funding has allowed the project to move ahead in a number of key areas which should allow construction to begin sooner.
“The City of Woodburn is excited about the recent developments and is working hard with ODOT to move this project ahead,” said Alan Fox, ODOT Project Leader. “A preliminary project foot print has been developed to the level at which it is providing us with a more detailed and accurate alignment. This is allowing us to better understand the impacts and deal with right-of-way, access management and other challenging issues.”
The project will replace the existing interchange with a wider bridge overcrossing and a higher capacity “partial cloverleaf” design that will better facilitate traffic flow in the interchange area. The project also includes widening of OR 214 and access control to address the significant congestion near the interchange. The project has already made significant progress. An Environmental Assessment (EA) has been approved by the federal government, and an Interchange Area Management Plan (IAMP) has been approved by the Oregon Transportation Commission.
ODOT reported to the Woodburn City Council that:
As part of the strategy to “compress” the schedule, ODOT is pursuing right-of-way acquisition and implementing access management provisions. Based on the project footprint, at least 32 properties have been identified for some level of right of way acquisition, and ODOT has already begun discussions and negotiations with some of these property owners. Other efforts are being made to compress the schedule as key ODOT managers and Woodburn Public Works consider alternative contracting methods, address various technical challenges and proceed with utility relocation. A decision has been made to go ahead with construction of the planned Transit Project as Phase I of the interchange project. The transit facility was originally scheduled to be constructed in 2011. However, schedule compression of the Interchange coupled with a delay on the transit facility in order to comply with Federal environmental regulations has brought the schedules of the two projects closer together to the point where ODOT is considering combining them for construction in 2012. If adopted, combining the two projects into one construction contract should result in some cost savings and reduce the disruption of traffic during construction. ODOT has updated its communications strategy, to help provide current and important information to the public including project updates, key timelines, upcoming meetings, quarterly newsletter and establishment of an email list.
“The current schedule is compressed significantly compared to the normal schedule for a project of this complexity,” Fox said. “As the project moves ahead, public participation will continue to be important especially as we develop the Traffic Control Plan and start to consider aesthetic issues for the interchange this summer.”
For more information on the project, please visit the web at http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/REGION2/Woodburn_Interchange.shtml.
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