City anticipates Yelm Loop project to go out for bid in April of 2025

The Yelm Bypass project, which has been in the works for over 25 years, is finally nearing the construction stage with City of Yelm officials expecting the project to go out to bid in April of 2025.

During the city’s Town Hall event on Wednesday, Aug. 14, at the Yelm Community Center, Pat Hughes, the city’s project manager, provided the latest information regarding the project. He said, according to the last update he received from the Washington state Department of Transportation (WSDOT), project bids are expected to go out next spring.

“The plans are essentially at the 100% stage. We’re finding little details here and there, but we’re pretty much done with the plans. WSDOT is ready to take this thing to bid in the spring,” Hughes said. “All the property has been acquired for it. First and foremost, understand this is a Washington state project. This is a WSDOT project, not a City of Yelm or Thurston County project, but because it enters the city, leaves the city, re-enters the city, we’re a stakeholder. We’ve got a lot of input on how it gets built and how it gets designed.”

Once the project goes out to bid next spring, Hughes said he wouldn’t suspect “any movement” on the project until June or July of next year.

“We are less than a year away. The city’s perspective, they view it as a lot of congestion relief in the downtown area — especially for traffic that is passing through Yelm,” Hughes said. “We can move around the city, rather than going through the busy downtown.”

He added that the Yelm Bypass will help congestion from crashes or traffic delays on Interstate 5 leading drivers to detour through the city.

Hughes said the bid process should take up to several months, as it includes selecting a contractor, checking qualifications, tabulating the bid, presenting the contract and obtaining contract approval from the state.

Though Hughes has an idea of how he believes the Yelm Bypass will be scheduled, he said the decision is ultimately left to the contractors.

“They could elect to start different crews in different areas. They could elect to start on one end and build it to the other. My guess is they’ll probably start in the area of Walmart and 103rd because this is where the majority of the work is,” Hughes said. “A lot of people ask how long the construction is going to take. Again, that will be up to the contractors, but we’re projecting about two and a half years.”

Hughes said he believes construction will begin around Walmart and 103rd Street Southeast because the area has the most utilities and the most complex construction with two roundabouts planned, traffic control concerns and different detours.

In addition to the future roundabout installations at Highway 507 and Walmart Boulevard and at Walmart Boulevard and 103rd Street Southeast, a third roundabout will be placed at Wilkensen Road.