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Project Info

Click here to view a YouTube video of the final design for the I-90 project

Click here to visit the WSDOT project page

A 15-mile stretch of Interstate 90 just east of Snoqualmie Pass is due for an upgrade. Deteriorated pavement, congestion, substandard curves, exposure to avalanches, and collisions with wildlife pose risks to safety and reduce transportation efficiency.

The same stretch of freeway bisects an area that US Forest Service biologists have long recognized as “a critical connective link in the north-south movement of [wildlife] in the Cascade Range.” Washington State citizens and the United States Congress have recently invested about $70 million in acquiring and protecting wildlife corridors in the area.

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is preparing a proposal to expand I-90 between Hyak and Easton. So far, only the environmental impact statement is funded, with a preferred alternative to be announced in late 2005 and final EIS due in 2006. A multi-agency team of biologists and hydrologists are reviewing options. By incorporating bridges and other structures that allow wildlife passage at strategic locations, the project can greatly improve wildlife connections while making travel safer and more efficient.

The Coalition supported the project because it provides wildlife passage of the highest standard in this critical habitat bottleneck. Without proper wildlife crossings, the proposed freeway expansion would almost certainly make the situation faced by wildlife significantly worse. Therefore the Coalition will only support the project if impacts are mitigated and crossings of the highest standards are incorporated into the design.

Intended Benefits of the I-90 Hyak to Easton Project

Efficiency
●  On average, 27,000 vehicles a day go over Snoqualmie Pass, many of them semi-trucks. Demand is expected to increase steadily over the next 20 years. WSDOT proposes widening the highway from four lanes to six to increase capacity.
●  The project will also eliminate road closures for avalanche control. It’s estimated that for every 24 hours the pass is closed, the state economy loses $16 million.
●  Freight mobility will improve with longer truck climbing lanes.

Safety

●  In addition to reducing risk from snow avalanches, the project will reduce the risk of falling rocks and debris from reaching the highway.
●  Sight distance will improve as curves are straightened.
●  Wildlife passage structures will reduce collisions between vehicles and animals crossing the freeway.

Wildlife Connections
●  Improving wildlife connectivity is one of WSDOT’s stated goals for this project, which can complement past and ongoing efforts to protect wildlife corridors in Washington’s Central Cascades. This project can:
●  Allow large and small wildlife to safely move from one side of I-90 to the other by strategically elevating the freeway, installing larger culverts, and building bridges.
●  Help keep Cascades wildlife populations genetically viable by allowing genetic exchange. Larger populations of species are more resilient and allow wildlife and land managers greater flexibility.
●  Dovetail with recent, major land acquisition efforts (e.g., the I-90 Land Exchange of 1999 followed by a $70 million investment of private and public funds).
●  Mitigate I-90’s impact to wetlands in the project area and improve function of the upper Yakima River system.

WSDOT Contact Information
Brian White, Project Director
PO Box 12560, Yakima WA 98909-2560
1-888-535-0738
I90Snoq@wsdot.wa.gov
Project Website:  http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/i90/snoqualmiepasseast

Project Funding

• $545 million dedicated from state gas tax funds approved by the Washington State Legislature towards Phase 1

• An additionnal $40 million could extend Phase 1 to the end of Lake Keechelus to better set-up Phase 2, and address important traffic and safety issues.  

Project Timeline

• June 2005.  DEIS released.

• June to August 2005.  DEIS Public Comment Period.

• March 2006.  Preferred alternative recommended to project team from IDT Team.  This recommendation includes Option A designs at Gold Creek and Price/Noble Creek.

• May 2006.  Public announcement of official WSDOT Preferred Alternative.

• 2008.  Final EIS is released.

• Summer 2009 breaking on first Phase of project.