If you’ve been to Dundee, chances are you’ve sat in traffic and waited, and waited, and waited…and maybe even thought to yourself, “Is any wine going to be left when I get there?”

Well the Oregon Department of Transportation along with numerous local, state, and federal partners are doing their best to fix one of the worst traffic jams in the Willamette Valley. You can follow much of the progress via the ODOT project website, Highway 99W Newberg Dundee Bypass and they have a great video explaining the work done to date.

However, being local to Dundee means that we have a more intimate relationship with the comings and goings of dump trucks, huge steel bridge girders, cranes, earth movers, pile drivers, etc. We get fliers in the mail when anything major is going to happen like when they delivered the bridge girders or when they were going to be pile driving i.e. your house might shake and that’s normal. When we bought our house we even had to sign a disclosure that we were aware of the project.

Yes I’m aware, and I’m super excited! Check out the map, it’s going to be amazing!

Since the construction is happening so close to our house, I’ve decided to occasionally give updates on the progress. I basically took pictures of all the construction I could see happening from my car (some of the alignment can’t be reached by vehicle). All of the work is pretty impressive, especially the dirt fill ramps that have been constructed for the new bridges.

Below is my set of pictures. If you hover over the picture you’ll get a bit more information about the direction I’m looking as well as bridge numbers and roadway names which match up to the map created by ODOT.

Pictures from OR219

Picture from Wynooski Road looking East

Picture near College Street looking West

Picture on 8th Street in Dundee – 8th Street Overcrossing (BR22005)

Picture near Edwards Drive – 1st Bridge (BR22004)

Picture looking toward Fulquartz Rd Overcrossing (BR22003)

Pictures of OR99W Overcrossing in Dundee – South of OR99W (BR22001)

It’s hard to believe that by 2016 we’ll have a new bypass that will alleviate much of the traffic congestion experienced by residents and tourist alike. Let the countdown begin!