Puget Sound engineering crew works on paving project in Kent near the turn of the 20th Century

Did you know that in 1860 every man in King County between 18 and 50 was required to contribute three days of labor in actually building roads? Or that in 1854 mail arriving in Seattle came from Olympia in weekly "express canoes?"

The history of transportation - particularly the road system - in King County offers fascinating insights into the local human history as well. During October, the King County Road Services Division will observe Archaeology Month by sponsoring three events for the public. These interactive lectures will focus on the history of roads in King County, starting with Native American footpaths and ending with the Interstate system. Participants will explore the development of establishing and paying for roads, as well as the evolution of road construction techniques and route selection.

The free events will be held:
Thursday, Oct. 7, from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Preston Community Center, 5625 310th Ave SE, Preston;
Thursday, Oct. 14, from 7-8:30 p.m. in the 8th floor conference room at the King Street Center, 201 S. Jackson St., Seattle (8th Floor);
Thursday, Oct. 28, from 7-8:30pm, at the Auburn Library, 1102 Auburn Way South, Auburn.

At each presentation, there will be historic maps with overlays of our modern county transportation system, along with then-and-now photographs. You will be able to look at the historic photographs of wagon roads, corduroy roads, and brick roads, and then see the modern images of the same places to see how much has changed.

Today's modern road system of concrete and asphalt has a lot in common with those early crude roads. The alignments of many of those old roads - and even footpaths - are still in use; only the traveling surfaces are much improved.

The early roads built by settlers were very primitive, and often only had a man-made surface when wagons and horses needed to cross a muddy or wet spot on a dirt road. Then, the settlers would install slabs of cedar laid like ties across long poles sunk into the mud. These were called "puncheon" or "corduroy" roads. Recently, county crews working near Maple Valley unearthed a section of old corduroy road that is probably more than 100 years old. While finding buried corduroy road used to be common, few intact roads still remain beneath today's modern roads and highways, making each intact segment that much more important.

The first local "government-built" road is still in use today, thanks to many improvements over the past 140 years. Military Road in South King County was originally completed in 1860, and served as an early-day "freeway" between Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River and Seattle. It was officially known as "Road No. 1" of King County, even though it was a territorial road.

The Seattle-Walla Walla Wagon Road (later known as the Snoqualmie Pass Road) was one of the most significant early roads in King County, since it linked the Seattle area to eastern Washington and the rest of the United States. Construction of this wagon road was a long, arduous process. The county began in 1856 and finally finished construction to the Ellensburg area in 1867.

Advances in transportation technology often fueled King County population growth. When the Mercer Island floating bridge was built in 1940, it opened up East King County for suburban growth.

All of our local cities have streets that were originally built by King County and transferred to the city at the time of incorporation. King County has been in the road-building business since 1855 when County Commissioners declared that all existing roads in King County were to be lawfully opened as county roads.

The technology of building roads has changed greatly over the years, but the goal remains the same - to provide a road system that is safe and efficient for all uses and modes of travel.

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Here is a list of King County Department of Transportation projects that may disrupt traffic and travel in the coming weeks:

186th Place Northeast, south of Cottage Lake - 186th Place Northeast will be closed until 4 p.m., Friday, Oct. 1 between Northeast 146th Way and Northeast 145th Street while crews install a new culvert. Motorists can detour via Northeast 146th Way, Avondale Road, and Northeast 143rd Street.

Northeast, Bear Creek area - Northeast 149th Street will be closed at 216th Avenue Northeast until 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 30 while crews replace a culvert. Motorists should use alternate routes.

124th Avenue Northeast, in Kingsgate - Work is ongoing for street improvements along 124th Avenue Northeast between Northeast 132nd Street and Northeast 146th Place. A three-week road closure begins Monday, Oct. 4.

Northeast 124th Street, north of Redmond - Work will continue through October on the Northeast 124th Street project between Willows Road and State Route 202.

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.

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.

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