Motorists traveling west on state Route 410 are going to have to put up with a torn-up road for a few more months.

Progress on the stretch of highway between Buckley and Bonney Lake – beginning at 234th Avenue and continuing to 214th – is screeching to a halt.

According to MaryLou Nebergall, project engineer for the Washington State Department of Transportation, this year’s weather is simply not conducive to getting the project finished.

“We just didn’t get enough done before the bad weather moved in,” she said.

Nebergall said WSDOT has been working since spring, but this year’s spring and summer were “very wet,” which slowed everything down.

Now, even when it is dry, Nebergall said it is too cold to finish the paving that remains to be done.

The plan now is to finish for the year and return in April, when the rains begin to subside, Nebergall said.

“We’re going to wrap it up by the end of the year and get it to a good place,” she said.

Nebergall said the current configuration would stay through the winter, with drivers directed to the northern half of the highway with the speed limit holding steady at 35 mph.

Work still to be completed includes paving the south side of SR410, curb and gutter work and the addition of a median in the center of the highway.

The re-alignment of the 233rd/234th Avenue intersection with the addition of a new traffic light will also wait until spring.

In total, the $29 million, 1.49-mile project adds one lane in each direction of 410 from 234th Avenue to 214th Avenue with a raised median separating eastbound and westbound traffic.

The project also includes infrastructure improvements like stormwater treatment facilities, lighting and bus stop improvements.

Nebergall said she anticipated the work would be completed within a few months of re-starting construction.

“We really hoped to get there, but it just didn’t happen,” she said.