Hawks Prairie area road work to begin

LIONA TANNESEN THE OLYMPIAN

LACEY -- Work is expected to begin as early as Monday to widen Marvin Road, and that will mean some inconveniences for motorists.

Construction crews will shift lanes to the west side of the road when construction starts at Quinault Way.

The $9.2 million Washington State Department of Transportation project will add bike lanes, sidewalks and new signals from Quinault to Pacific Avenue.

About 30 parking stalls will be removed from the Marvin Road park-and-ride lot at Quinault Way to make room for the wider road.

Another lot is available to motorists on Martin Way near Interstate 5.

No detours yet

The first stage of the work stretches from Quinault Way to near Les Schwab along Marvin Road and is expected to be completed by early August.

"In that first stage, there won't be any detours," said WSDOT Project Engineer John Wynands.

The two-way traffic will be moved to the west side of the road while work is done on the east side. "When the east side is done, we will flop," Wynands said.

Joint project

While the Marvin Road construction work is being done, work also will start on Martin Way. Water lines will be replaced with larger pipes, and the road will be straightened and repaired from Galaxy Drive to River Ridge High School.

The work is a joint project between the city of Lacey and the state.

Working with the state allows the street and water work to be done at the same time, making it less expensive, City Engineer Roger Schoessel said.

"You get better bids because there are more materials and more quantities involved in the project," Schoessel said.

Combining the state and city projects into a single project also means less congestion, he said.

The cost to Lacey is $1.3 million, with $490,750 paid by a federal grant. Scarsella Brothers Inc. is the project contractor.

The project, which is expected to be finished in August 2003, will work its way toward Pacific Avenue. A roundabout will be constructed at the intersection of Marvin Road and Pacific Avenue.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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