The final paving was laid on Northeast 124th Street last week, but there is still several months of work to complete the project.
Significant progress has been made in recent weeks on the big project to widen and reconstruct Northeast 124th Street as it crosses the Sammamish Valley north of Redmond between Willows Road and State Route 202.
The $8.2 million project includes a wider road, new shoulders, and increased clearance for the Sammamish River Trail underpass. Work is expected to continue through the fall, but some major milestones are being reached in June and July.
Last Friday, traffic began traveling over the new southside bridge that crosses the Sammamish River. And, final paving was laid on the long stretch from Willows Road to 154th Place Northeast.
Next up is the demolition and construction of the northside bridge. The existing bridge is scheduled to be removed next week and work on the new bridge should begin the first week of July. There will be some temporary road closures lasting 10 to15 minutes on Thursday and Friday, July 1 and 2, as crews remove the old bridge girders. Installation of new girders should happen in August. Flaggers will be in place to control traffic.
Staff from the King County Road Services Division realize that a long-term project on a busy arterial like Northeast 124th Street is a headache for drivers. Although much has been done to minimize traffic disruptions, it has been difficult to eliminate all construction-related delays.
We are aware particularly of complaints about intersection backups and the signal timing at each end of the project, said Resident Engineer Dee Gilmore. We have installed temporary signals and have even worked nights to get the intersection work completed as quickly as possible. And, we have worked closely with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to frequently fine-tune the signal timing at SR 202 since WSDOT controls that intersection.
We really appreciate how patient most of the motorists have been, and encourage the use of alternate routes whenever possible, said Gilmore.
Finding other east-west routes will be even more important starting in July, when the City of Redmond will be closing nearby Northeast 116th Street to through traffic between Avondale Road and SR 202 until the end of August.
Gilmore said the SR 202 intersection work is about 85 percent complete, and should be finished by the end of July. Beyond the bridge and intersection, the straight stretch of Northeast 124th has only the guardrail and other minor work left to be completed. Landscaping will take place in the fall, and entire project completion is expected in November.
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It's Grady & Brady again at annual bus roadeo
Roadeo winner Michael Grady, center, with event organizers Ray Coffey, left, and Terry Compton.
.For the fourth time in the past seven years, East Base driver Michael Grady was crowned the champion of King County Metro Transit's bus roadeo.
Grady won the 28th annual Metroadeo driving competition on June 19, edging out another perennial winner Don Brady, of North Base. Chai Kunjara, of Central Base, came in third, and Central's Ray Wilson had the best score for a first-time competitor. Janet Palmer of Central Base won the driving-only Maverick Division.
Grady, a 23-year Metro veteran, is now looking forward to the state competition in Yakima later this summer. He is a two-time state champion, and would like to make it three and advance to the national competition.
Vehicle Maintenance employees had their own contest Saturday, and veterans also took the top prizes. The winning team of Ryan Stringfellow, Leonard Emry and Larry Fitzpatrick will advance directly to the international American Passenger Transport Association (APTA) competition in Atlanta in October. A team from Community Transit took second, and Metro's Bryan Stites, Arvin Vulliet, and Jerry McKenna came in third, which qualifies them for the state meet.
Changes for Renton commuters
The Renton-Rainier Avenue Park-and-Ride Lot will be permanently closed starting July 1. But, Metro has made arrangements with the city of Renton for bus passengers to park for free in the new City Center Garage at 655 S. Second Street (Second and Burnett Avenue).
For many years, Metro had 250 parking spaces in the old K-Mart lot at 400 Rainier Avenue S. That property is being redeveloped and the spaces are no longer available for commuters.
There will be up to 200 park-and-ride spaces on floors 4-7 of the City Center Garage, and there are 150 spaces across Burnett Avenue in the Renton Transit Center Park-and-Ride Garage. Metro routes 101 and 143 provide direct service from the transit center to downtown Seattle, and extra service was added to Route 143 in early June.
For information about the changes and tips on additional park-and-ride locations in the Renton area, visit Metro Online.
Grand designs for the future
Design plans for Metro Transit's new Burien Transit Center are in the early phases of development, with construction tentatively scheduled to begin in the summer of 2006. But several budding design engineers from local high schools already have some ideas on what it should look like.
Auburn High School's Alex Johnson, Valerie Burns and Erin Kelly submitted the winning entry in a design contest co-sponsored by Metro, Sound Transit and TransEd. TransEd is a coalition of schools that encourages students to consider challenging careers in the field of transportation. Auburn Riverside High School's Greg Nakata submitted the winning 3-D model.
Sixteen teams, totaling 46 students, submitted entries for the challenging design project. Metro provided students with an array of authentic resources to work with, including maps of the existing transit center and surrounding area, sample designs from other projects, and specifications for what must be included at the new center.
The students came up with several promising ideas we hadn't considered, said Elizabeth Morgan, a Metro Transit engineer, who was the technical consultant for the contest.
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Route-Off raises money for charity
Route Off contestants experience a variety of
emotions, from left: Bill Bryant; Diane Harper;
David Hull; and Drew Robinson.
A group of Metro Transit employees and managers gathered on their lunch break last week to raise more than $1,000 in donations for Northwest Harvest by holding a "Route-Off a Jeopardy-style game show where every question had a Metro-related answer.
Drew Robinson, a planner with transit route facilities, won in a landslide. But, a valiant effort was turned in by the other contestants Diane Harper, Bill Bryant and David Hull all from the service planning group.
Questions were tough, and dealt with some of the most arcane trivia within Metro. But there was one question with a lot of popular appeal and it was one of the easiest questions for the group to answer: "Name one regular Metro route that serves each of these Dick's Drive Ins Queen Anne, Broadway, Wallingford, Crown Hill and Lake City?" Bryant had the quick answer and won 500 points for his response.
Airport's military support goes smoothly
Members of the military take a break inside
the terminal at King County International Airport.
The first of the military flights diverted from McChord Air Force Base landed at King County International Airport at Boeing Field last week, and it turned into a festive event as the troops took over the café inside the terminal. There were so many uniforms swamping the concessions staff, that some of them volunteered to put on an apron and help out behind the counter.
Aside from the initial flurry of excitement inside the terminal, KCIA reports there have been no disruptions to airport operations. KCIA is serving as a relief site this summer while the McChord runway is resurfaced.
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Elliott Bridge replacement kicks into high gear
Clearing and grading work has been completed, and the King County Road Services Division expects to begin major construction on a new Elliott Bridge next week.
The contractor is set to begin construction on Monday, June 28 on the bridge project, located east of Renton and just north of State Route 169 (Maple Valley Highway). Heavy construction will be underway throughout the summer at the site of the new bridge and along the new south approach. The county plans to complete the two new bridge piers that are closest to the Cedar River by August 15.
This phase of construction should have little impact on current traffic; the present Elliott Bridge and its approaches will remain open at all times. However, there could be some minor detouring for pedestrians and bicyclists on the Cedar River Trail along SR 169.
Roadwork ahead: Pedestrian improvement for Juanita Drive
The King County Road Services Division will begin a three-week project on Wednesday, June 23 to install a sidewalk on the west side of Juanita Drive Northeast between Northeast 122nd Place and Northeast 124th Street. The project will also include the installation of new curbs and gutters. The $135,000 project is part of the county's overall program to upgrade road shoulders into improved pedestrian pathways.
During construction, it may be necessary to reduce Juanita Drive down to one lane of traffic. However, flaggers will be posted at the site as necessary to minimize disruptions.
Here is a list of other King County Department of Transportation projects that may disrupt traffic and travel in the coming weeks:
Southeast 213th Street, near Shadow Lake Southeast 213th Street will be closed between 196th Avenue Southeast and 191st Avenue Southeast until 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 23 while a culvert is replaced.
Northeast 124th Street, north of Redmond Work continues through October 2004 on Northeast 124th Street between Willows Road and State Route 202.
Expect periodic traffic delays, particularly during paving which is planned for this week depending on the weather.
Duvall Bridge Crews will be working on a seismic upgrade of the Duvall Bridge on the Woodinville-Duvall Road through September. Most of the work will occur underneath the bridge. Full road or bridge closures are not expected, but flaggers will be controlling truck and equipment traffic.
Wyanco Bridge, east of Auburn The Wynaco Bridge on 168th Way Southeast is closed through September for repairs and upgrades. Motorists should detour to Auburn-Black Diamond Road and Kent-Black Diamond Road.
Edgewick Bridge, east of North Bend -
The Edgewick Bridge on 468th Avenue Southeast remains closed, and traffic has been diverted to a temporary one-lane bridge. The project is expected to last through mid-October.
South 277th Street, between Auburn and Kent There will be no lane closures, but motorists may experience periodic traffic disruptions on South 277th Street between the West Valley Highway and 72nd Avenue South through October 2005 as a result of this major reconstruction project.
124th Avenue Northeast, in Kingsgate Private utility relocation is underway, and will be followed by street improvements along 124th Avenue Northeast between Northeast 132nd Street and Northeast 146th Place.
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DOT Dash