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Moving Right Along On The Cross-Base Highway

The work on the new SR704 intersection with SR7 (Pacific Avenue) will not be completed until July of this year. "The nighttime temperature has to stay above fifty degrees before we can put on the final seal coat," said a Ceccanti employee. "Then we can take down the barriers and allow full use of the new section." Ceccanti's is a Spanaway firm that won the contract to widen Spanaway Loop Road from 176th to Pacific Avenue as the first phase of the Cross-Base Highway. The project at the Spanaway end expands a section of Spanaway Loop Road into five lanes and includes two right-hand turn lanes south onto Pacific Avenue. The project calls for SR704 to pass between McChord Air Force Base and Fort Lewis and connect with I-5 at the Thorne Lane interchange. Spanaway Loop Road will then become an access route to SR704.    View east    View west Even before the new section is fully open, the two new free-right-turn lanes have eased traffic backup on Spanaway Loop Road. But turning south without the benefit of a signal has created another problem. "The turn lane is too short," said commuter Kim Molstad. "It's really difficult to merge into the heavy traffic on Pacific Avenue during rush hour." That problem was anticipated and the solution is in the works; the turn lanes will have a traffic signal coordinated with the other lights at the intersection. "All the lights will be changed to a pulse system," said the Ceccanti employee. "These are more efficient than the existing timed signals." A computerized pulse system connects all the lights at an intersection through radio signals, instead of cables, and monitors traffic to coordinate signal changes based on traffic flow, instead of pre-set times. Another improvement completed the last week of March: concrete noise barriers. "The footings for the barrier were placed using GPS coordinates," said Ceccanti's employee. "Each panel was custom made using those coordinates, so the barrier is level despite the elevation drop in the roadway." Many whose homes front the new road appreciate the sound-suppressing barrier. For others, its an ugly blockage of their once-verdant view of the Fort Lewis Reservation. And the wall likely poses an irresistible blank canvas for taggers. Asked if the concrete would be given a tagging-suppressing texture or paint, the answer was it would not. Too, all the green-scaping for the new road section will be on the road side of the barrier. It will be up to homeowners to plant fir trees or other greenery on the 176th Street side of the wall to improve the barrier's appearance and make it more difficult for would-be taggers to access. "The next phase of the Cross-Base Highway will improve the intersection at Thorne Lane," said the Ceccanti spokesperson. "The third and final phase of the project is the connecting road between the two." Local residents have waited thirty years and frustrating delays caused by environmental organizations' lawsuits. (See previous article) Since the two intersections can be stand-alone projects, many think it unlikely that the connecting road will ever be built. "See that bagged traffic signal down at the west end [of the new section]? That signal cost about one hundred thousand dollars," said a member of the construction crew. "It doesn't get turned on until Highway 704 is complete. I don't think the state would spend that kind of money unless they intend to complete the job."