PI bridge: No over night closures Aug. 27-Sept. 3

Here's the latest news release from the Washington Department of Transportation:

There will be no overnight closures of the SR 409 Puget Island Bridge from Friday, Aug. 24 through Monday, Sept. 3. The alternating single-lane closure will remain in place, around-the-clock for bridge painting work. For everyone’s safety, the speed limit across the entire bridge span is 25 mph. Please be sure to slow down and give crews room to work.

To ensure travel access on and off the island, the Wahkiakum County Ferry will run during bridge closures, free of charge. In the event of canceled bridge closures with less than 24-hours advance notice, the Ferry will still run overnight, free of charge.

The Wahkiakum County Department of Emergency Management has created a notification system to alert you of delayed bridge openings or canceled bridge closures. If you would like to be added to the notification list, please text the word: BRIDGE to 474747 or email your cell phone number to Beau Renfro at renfrob@co.wahkiakum.wa.us, or call 360-795-7876. The text option is preferred.

SR 4 Slope Stabilization

In case you missed it, emergency slope stabilization work on SR 4, near Stella, begins Monday, Aug. 27. Contractor crews will begin work to remove 8,000 cubic yards of unstable material from the top of the hillside adjacent to the highway and repair the debris fence. In December 2017, due to heavy rains saturating the hillside adjacent to the highway, trees, rocks and other debris, slid across SR 4, closing the roadway.

SR 4 near Stella landslide

Travelers on both directions of SR 4 near Stella will continue to alternate through a single lane, around-the-clock, until slope restoration and fence replacement work is complete later this year.

Full roadway closures of 20 to 30 minutes may be needed, while crews remove large rocks off the hillside.

Use caution and slow down through the work zone.

You can get updated construction information and current travel conditions with our mobile app: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Inform/mobile.htm.