Interstate 5 motorists traveling between Tri City and Winchester can expect intermittent nighttime delays the next three months due to blasting work on Roberts Mountain.
Kerr Contractors of Woodburn began blasting work on Roberts Mountain on Interstate 5 on Aug. 13. The work will usually involve one underground detonation a night, sometime between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Excavation may require a handful of blasts each week.
Roadside blasting typically produces noise and clouds of dust, but little flying debris. The nearby travel lanes are cleared as a safety precaution.
The Roberts Mountain blasting work will enable Kerr to excavate the slope on the west side of I-5 and construct a climbing lane on both the northbound and southbound approaches to the pass.
Construction on the $26 million project began this spring and is scheduled to be completed by summer 2021.
For more information, visit RobertsMountain.com.
