Major detour during work on ‘very unsafe’ road in Thurston Co. When will it end?
There has been some chatter online about increased traffic and speeds, and trouble accessing grocery stores in Tumwater because of construction at the intersection of Second and Linwood Avenues. City Engineer Bill Lindauer said the work being done might be inconvenient right now, but that it will bring much needed improvements to a “very unsafe” road.
Lindauer told The Olympian on July 1 that the Second Avenue pedestrian and bicycle improvement project is set to be completed on time, in mid-August.
According to previous reporting from The Olympian, the intersection at Second and Linwood Avenues is closed for the construction of a new roundabout.
The $4.2 million project replaces a four-way stop and includes pedestrian and bicycle improvements along Second Avenue, according to the city of Tumwater website. The city hopes these changes will make the intersection safer and encourage non-motorized travel in the area.
Crews will reopen the intersection once the roundabout is completed around mid-July, according to previous reporting from The Olympian. The city expects to fully complete the project later in the summer.
A Reddit user posted in r/Olympia on June 30 asking when they’ll be able to drive through Tumwater again.
“The road closure at 2nd Ave and Linwood is creating a traffic nightmare,” the user wrote. “Does anyone know when it will end? I am about to just go to Olympia for everything, because I can’t keep cutting through 3 different parking lots and dashing across 5 lanes of Littlerock traffic every time I need groceries or gas.”
Lindauer said on July 1 that there are two primary components of the project: to increase vehicle safety at a “dysfunctional intersection,” and to bring pedestrian and bicycle safety enhancements to Second Avenue.
He said the old intersection was a four-way stop, but the angles at the intersection made it difficult for cars to see each other. He said it became a free-for-all of cars not knowing when to go and then speeding through the intersection.
Lindauer said Second Avenue and the intersection with Linwood Avenue do not have good pedestrian or bicycle facilities. Michael T. Simmons Elementary School is at the intersection, and he said the city secured a $2.1 million grant from the Washington Department of Transportation Safe Routes to School Program for the work.
Since 2005, the program has awarded $252 million for 348 projects aimed at making it safer and easier for children to walk and bicycle to school, according to previous reporting from The Olympian.
The program is partially supported by the state’s Climate Commitment Act, which is targeted at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The remaining $2.1 million for the project is being paid for with money from the Tumwater Transportation Benefit District and private development fees, according to previous reporting from The Olympian.
“You want to put in those facilities so people, especially the kids, can get to the school down there in a safer manner, because there are a lot of residential areas,” he said. “It was a very unsafe intersection for pedestrians previously, and so it’s going to have new sidewalk ramps and crosswalks.”
When it comes to the posted detours around the intersection, which diverts drivers from Second Avenue, down I Street to Seventh Avenue before reconnecting with Linwood Avenue, Lindauer said he made the decision to completely close the intersection for safety reasons and to get work done quickly.
“Getting vehicles off the roadways 100% enhances the safety of construction workers in a work zone,” he said. “What a lot of people don’t know is that roadway work is extremely dangerous for workers. I mean, workers get hurt and killed sometimes doing that kind of work, and by removing the vehicles, that not only increases the safety for everybody, but it also increases the speed of the work, so we can finish the work faster.”
Lindauer said it is extremely difficult to maintain traffic flow during the construction of a roundabout. He said the city decided to keep the roadway open when constructing the roundabouts that connect I-5 to Trosper Road, which proved difficult for workers and drivers.
“So we felt that doing a detour was the best choice,” he said. “With that comes the downside of a detour, which is inconvenient. People have to drive farther to get to where they want to go, so it’s hard to balance that from a public relations perspective, because from our standpoint the faster a project is completed, 100% the better.”
He said people really shouldn’t run into issues accessing businesses like Safeway, Fred Meyer, Costco and Walmart located south of the project. The detour posted by the city shows access from Linwood Avenue to Lake Park Drive Southwest, which connects to Trosper Road and the shopping area. Typically, drivers would be able to travel directly south on Second Avenue to Trosper Road.
Lindauer said he encourages drivers to check detours and information posted on the city’s website. He said people can also call the city with issues they’re seeing on the roads.
“It could be anything, and we can help them out,” he said. “We can give them a route. We can show them how to navigate it. If someone’s having a concern like that, there’s 100% help for them to figure it out, either talk to somebody else who knows the area, or just call the city and somebody will help them.”
Tumwater spokesperson Jason Wettstein said on July 1 that feedback on the project has been pretty low across city channels. He said if anything, the feedback the city has received on the project has been positive, and that residents have expressed a need for a safer intersection and accessibility for cyclists and pedestrians.
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