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The History of Roads › Reports, events and other documents
Reports, events and other documents
County Road Engineer Reports
The County Road Engineer has long been required by state law to prepare an annual report. The requirements for the report have varied over time. Earlier reports contained narrative and pictures. Because communication was largely through print, these were an important document published by the county. Later as the scope of the county's public works programs grew and with the advent of television, the format moved to more of annual overview report to the public and the document was just one of many ways in which the public could learn about this important county service. Towards the last part of the 20th Century, the formal county road engineer reporting requirements have evolved to rather dry listings of projects, equipment, and road segments. By 2002, with the advent of the Internet, the tendency has been to increasingly move away from printing and distributing large quantities of written material to making the information available on the Internet. Below is a sampling of the information reported by the County Road Engineer reflecting these changes over time.- 1939 County Road Engineer's Fifth Annual Report (State Golden Jubilee)
This was an expanded report covering the development of King County and many of the early cities in King County up through 1939.- Full Report (.pdf, 194 pages 12.4 MB)
- Table of Contents (.pdf, 4 pages 240 KB)
- Cover to Page 27 (.pdf, 31 pages 1.76 MB)
- Pages 52 to 84 (.pdf, 31 pages 1.71 MB)
- Pages 85 to 108 (.pdf, 24 pages 1.30 MB)
- Pages 127 to 156 (.pdf, 24 pages, 1.77 MB)
- Pages 157 to 175 (.pdf, 24 pages 1.13 MB)
- Pages 176 to 192 (.pdf, 24 pages, 981 KB)
Annual Reports
- 1989 Department of Public Works Annual Reports The 1989 Department of Public Works Annual Report summarized covered activity by the airport, roads solid waste, and surface water management divisions and the office of fleet administration. Fifty years later, the North and South road districts referenced in the 1939 report had been merged into one (by the county commissioners in 1949). The roads function had been made part of a department of public works as part of the implementation of the home rule charter approved by voters in November 1968. The roads function was to be later reorganized into a department of transportation as part of another major change in government structure when King County and Metro were merged.
2002 King County Roads On Line
The Internet has enabled King County Roads information to be made more accessible to the public we serve. History buffs may bemoan this move, but they should fear not. There are many legal record keeping requirements of the County Road Engineer which must be maintained as a permanent record and key documents are still printed in limited quantities to meet legal requirements and for ease of some adminstrative processes. There is also recognition that in today's highly mobile population, new residents are interested in finding out about their new community's past as a way of developing roots in that community. Consequently, the Internet as a source of archived information about roads is likely to grow. Future changes to the King County Road Services Division's web pages will be to archive old reports, noteworthy events, and past construction project information which may be of interest to the public. Information management technology used for engineering purposes will also benefit those interested in road history. The map preservation and digitizing project is one example of this. Much of the information that the county road engineer is required to report as well as other information is available to the public in a more useful form via the Internet.- King County Roads Capital Improvement Program is available as a searchable database covering budgeted projects for the next six years. Prior to the Internet, this information was available to the public primarily by wading through a very thick book obtained at the public library or for cost of about $20.
- Annual Bridge Report is a narrative report which had very limited distribution prior to being made widely accessible via the Internet.
- County Road Inventory System 2001 Road Index Maps. This series of 38 maps depicts King County "owned and maintained" roads and rights-of-way per WAC 136-60. The series is created annually from the County Road (log) Inventory System (CRIS) report. Also shown on the maps are King County bridges, privately "owned and maintained" road centerlines, 2001 incorporated areas, parks, and water.
- King County Road Alerts is a free e-mail notice of closed roads in unincorporated King County. The Road Engineer is required to send notice of the closoures to the news media and other transportaton agencies. The advent of e-mail allowed this information to be sent directly to the public as well.
Events
In today's fast paced world, we tend not to realize that what we are doing today is tomorrow's history and to leave a record of it. A road opening is a momentary blip on a news page or a television screen and then we race off to the next project. Here are some records of events from the mid-1980s and early 1990s.- Flaming Geyser Bridge Dedication, July 23, 1992
View | Print - Foster Bridge Ground Breaking, March 29, 1985
View | Print - Foster Bridge Dedication, Oct. 25, 1985 (2 pages)
View | Print - Green River Bridge, June 25, 1991
View | Print - Green River Gorge Bridge Oct. 16, 1991
View | Print - Interurban Bridge, Aug. 1, 1989
View | Print - Interurban Recreation Trail Dedication, June 9, 1984
View | Print - Road Improvement District 91, Oct. 31, 1985
View | Print - Vaughn Hill Road Groundbreaking, Aug. 27, 1985
View | Print - Woodinville North Bypass Northeast 195th Street Groundbreaking, October 21, 1990
View | Print - North Woodinville Way Bypass/South C.B.D. Bypass, October 21, 1990
View | Print
Other documents
As the King County Road Services Division carries out its programs, the history of a road is an important part of the engineering record which is of interest to both engineers and those in the community impacted by the project. Updated: Dec. 14, 2006
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