Repair to slide area to slow traffic on Highway 101 for several weeks

Published 12:01 am Sunday, September 11, 2011

BRINNON — A well-known slide area on U.S. Highway 101 south of Brinn­on will be repaired beginning Monday in a project that will slow traffic for several weeks.

A temporary signal will direct one-way, alternating traffic 24 hours a day on Highway 101 about seven miles south of Brinnon, just north of the Jefferson-Mason county line, until the project’s expected completion Oct. 7.

Single lane traffic

The single lane through the work area will be 12 feet wide, with 3 feet of the lane gravel.

No overwide loads will be permitted.

Wide loads can use state Highway 3 as an alternate route, said Kelly Stowe, state Department of Transportation spokeswoman.

Common winter issue

The project will slow travel on the highway, which is used by some 2,000 vehicles a day, but it is expected to solve a common winter problem.

Slides after heavy rainfall often block at least part of the highway near the Triton Cove State Park, Stowe said.

“We had a slide there last winter,” she said.

Transportation crews will reinforce the troublesome slope along the roadway by installing a “deep-hole patch”

This requires digging out the slide area and replacing it with several layers of geosynthetic and gravel materials to reinforce the slope.

The project is funded with emergency funds made available from the Federal Highways Association.