A multimillion-dollar road improvement project is underway on a short, heavily traveled corridor used to access commercial, industrial and residential properties in the east side of Olympia.
Construction on the Fones Road Corridor Project kicked off in November with the goal of transforming it into a safer corridor for bicyclists, motorists, pedestrians and truckers.
The estimated cost of the corridor project is $24.5 million with the city of Olympia contributing more than $13 million. The city has also received more than $11 million in grants from state and federal sources to help pay for the project.
Plans call for the addition of sidewalks and crossings for pedestrians, as well as separated bike lanes, improvements for truck access and vehicle flow, and an upgraded crossing at Karen Fraser Woodland Trail.
“The primary purpose or the driver for this was to make this a safer road for everyone,” said Fones Road Corridor Project Manager Jim Rioux during a walking tour of the site with The JOLT News on Monday, Dec. 23.
“Right now you can see we only have sidewalks and bike lanes in a few spots. … So it was really important for us to get a continuous sidewalk and bicycle facility on both sides of the street,” he added.
The project will also create a safer connection to transit stops on 18th and Pacific avenues, as well as add landscaping and lighting along the corridor, which measures less than three-quarters of a mile. Water lines, stormwater treatment and communication lines will also be upgraded.
Once completed, the corridor will feature two southbound travel lanes, one northbound travel lane, a center turn lane and a compact roundabout to improve traffic flow and afford motorists and truckers the ability to make a U-turn.
The compact roundabout will be located in between Home Depot Driveway and New Leaf Townhomes Driveway just shy of a planned mid-block crosswalk.
Fones Road will also be ripped up and repaved as part of the process. Road construction should be completed in summer 2026, based on a project timeline. Of note, the schedule is subject to change.
In the meantime, Rioux asked people to be mindful of the work being done in the area.
“I guess the other thing that would be great to get out to the public is … to be courteous to the people that are trying to come and use these businesses or live on this and if you can use an alternate route to keep the traffic volumes as low as (we) can on this road,” Rioux said. “It’s an amazingly busy road.”
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JW
This is good. Fones road is one of the roughest main roads in the city.
Wednesday, December 25, 2024 Report this
notdeskandchairs
"Once completed, the corridor will feature ... a compact roundabout to improve traffic flow and afford motorists and truckers the ability to make a U-turn."
I can hardly wait to see the large trucks that frequent Fones trying to use a "compact roundabout" as large trucks have difficulty with the roundabouts that proliferate our streets already. Essentially, one needs to stay out of their way as they often have to overlap into a second lane in order to negotiate the roundabout.
Wednesday, December 25, 2024 Report this
BillString
Bike lanes, sidewalks and a roundabout? Sure, why not ruin another road? While they're at it, why not shove in some unwanted homeless housing? And maybe a few sculptures? If it only costs 24.5 mil when its all done I'll be shocked.
Thursday, December 26, 2024 Report this
MrCommonSense
$24.3 million seems like a lot for such a short section of street improvements. Not sure why the bike and pedestrian lanes are separated as this is such a short distance and I don't believe they connect to any already existing of the same configuration. I also believe there are existing improvements that have been put in place as the street has developed and not sure the these improvement align with those proposed improvements either? It seems like the standard sidewalk and bike lanes adjacent to the roadway would have met the needs of both bicyclists and pedestrians and saved a lot of money which could be allocated to other areas in need of sidewalks and bike lanes. Why have developers make improvements if they are only going to be changed later? Put the cost of these improvements into a "future improvement" account instead of doing things twice.
Thursday, December 26, 2024 Report this