The Washington State Department of Transportation currently has contractor crews paving four sections of SR 9 — three shorter ones in the Arlington area and one long section in Whatcom County. The work will continue through mid-August.
Much of the project has wide shoulders that will safely allow bicyclists to pass. But during the paving project, some sections of the work zone could be potentially hazardous for bicyclists or could create situations where bicycles would interact with motorized vehicles on the highway. These include
- SR 9 Milepost 23.70 to Milepost 28.88 in the Arlington area
- SR 9 Milepost 69.46 to Milepost 79.41 in Whatcom County
To safely get cyclists through these sections, the contractor has established signed bicycle staging areas at each end of the work zone. This will allow the contractor to safely ferry bicyclists through the work zone. The staging areas are located at locations with cell phone service. Either a project flagger will call for a truck to transport the bicyclists through the work zone, or there will be a phone number to call a construction supervisor, who will transport the bicyclists. Delays for bicyclists should be 20 minutes or less.
The bicycle staging areas will only operate during construction hours:
- 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. near Arlington
- 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Whatcom County
At other hours, bicyclists should proceed with caution because of loose gravel on the roadway.
For project updates, go WSDOT’s construction update pages for Snohomish and Whatcom counties:
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