In a Roundabout Way

Construction of the Fourth and Fifth Avenue Corridor, which is scheduled between June 2001 and September 2003, will include two traffic roundabouts. The design will help ease the flow of traffic in the area of the new Fourth Avenue Bridge. ~City of Olympia, Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services.

This aerial view of the Capitol Campus should inspire us all to add to the dreams that started 150 years ago. Your community involvement can help to shape the future of the city. Olympia is more than parks, roads and landscaping; it's a reflection of the visions of its leaders and citizens. ~The Olympian files.

~Illustrations courtesy of the Portico Group.

This artist's rendering shows what the new Fourth Street Bridge will look like when it's completed. There will be broad sidewalks with areas for viewing the Olympic Mountains and Budd Inlet. ~City of Olympia, Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services.

This artist's rendering shows two views of the new Fourth Street Bridge. The upper portion shows a side view and the lower is the aerial view. ~City of Olympia, Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services; illustrations courtesy of the Portico Group.

The current fourth avenue bridge

The artist's renderings of the wall that Seattle artist T. Ellen Sollod will construct in the Harrison Avenue roundabout, along with plantings of grasses that mirror the movement of water in the Sound. ~City of Olympia, Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services.

This aerial view of the Fourth Street Bridge will soon become a part of history. Beginning in the spring of 2001, the bridge and surrounding areas will see extensive construction. ~City of Olympia, Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services.

Our Vision; continued

When the City Grows

When the City Grows

The Olympia Gateway Corridor is a project that will reduce traffic congestion between downtown and the west side of Olympia. The removal and replacement of the 80-year-old Fourth Avenue Bridge, scheduled to begin next May, is one of the main components of the City of Olympia's project. The plan also calls for features that will help pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists get to where they want to go easier and faster. Wider sidewalks, bicycle lanes and roundabouts will be in place when the project is completed.

The old bridge will be replaced with a haunched girder bridge with a design that includes wider sidewalks and bicycle lanes. Pedestrians will be able to walk along an 8-foot sidewalk and bicycle riders will travel on a 5-foot bike lane on the bridge and a 6-foot bike lane once they enter Olympic Way. The sidewalk will widen at the north side of the bridge to enable pedestrians to stop and enjoy the views of the Olympic Mountains and Budd Inlet.

To further enhance the view, the City has opted to bury most of the overhead utilities between Water and Sherman streets.

The City's main concern during the construction will be managing traffic. A two-lane detour on the south side of the existing bridge will help keep traffic moving between the west side and downtown. The City will also be promoting the use of alternative modes of travel, including taking the bus, telecommuting, walking, bicycling and carpooling.

A great deal of thought and planning went into the design of the new bridge and the entire Olympia Gateway Corridor project. Because the bridge will be, and always has been, an important gateway to neighborhoods and business centers, the City wanted it to be more than a thoroughfare. It had to be a beautiful structure, an observation point for pedestrians and an artistic statement that reflects the community.

Art played a big part in the design of the corridor. It was important to select an artistic design that would complement the tremendous natural beauty of the area and echo the environment. The artist selected for the project is T. Ellen Sollod of Seattle, who is the former director of the Seattle Arts Commission. She has a background in urban design and has worked on many public art projects.

Sollod says the elements will incorporate the use of geometry and formal design along with naturalistic plantings and asymmetrical paving materials. The paving along Fourth and Fifth avenues between Sylvester and Water streets will be textured, colored concrete. That flow of visual motion will also continue along the bridge, as Sollod uses a border of stone and pebble mosaic. The feature not only will add artistic form; the mosaic will funnel rain into the bridge's draining system.

Downtown traffic will also flow better once roundabouts are completed. Two intersections that were noted as having high accident rates were selected for these new traffic features. Roundabouts are designed to keep traffic moving without the use of traffic lights.

All types and sizes of vehicles, from Volkswagens to semi-trucks, can easily use a roundabout. If you would like to learn more about a traffic roundabout, check out the video "Roundabouts and the 4th Avenue Bridge" from the Olympia Timberland Regional Library, or go to the City of Olympia's Internet Web site at www.ci.olympia.wa.us and click on the Fourth Avenue Bridge icon.

Art will also be an enhancement to the proposed roundabouts. Sollod plans to install a terrazzo and glass wall on the Fourth Avenue roundabout, plus a half-circle planter that represents the Capitol Dome.

The Harrison Avenue roundabout will feature meadow grasses, stacked stone walls and mounded earth forms that will be planted with dwarf mondo grass and liriope.

The flat area of the design will have a flowing area of Japanese blood grass and feather reed grass that imitates the movement of water in Budd Inlet.

The Current Fourth Avenue Bridge

The current Fourth Avenue Bridge was built circa 1919 to connect Olympia and "Marshville," which is now the west side.

The structure replaced earlier wooden drawbridges at the same site. The engineers on the project were G.R. Elwell and Charles H. Williams.

The bridge measures 28 feet wide and about 1,000 feet long. It has three concrete arches and eight concrete girder spans. Timber piles support the bridge piers, which extend 10 feet below the mud line. On average, approximately 23,000 vehicles pass over the bridge each day.

Project Schedule

1992 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

1994 Supplemental EIS

1997 Grant Funding Approved

July 1999......Strategic Planning

Dec. 1999......Preliminary Engineering Completed

Jan. 2001......Design Completed

May 2001.......Constuction Begins

June 2003......Ribbon Cutting

The Olympian Copyright 2000

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