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King County Road Services Division crews stay on top of small slides to help keep them from becoming bigger problems.
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Road Division digs into ‘shoulder season’In the travel industry, “shoulder season” is the time between high demand and the off season when vacation bargains can often be found. The King County Road Services Division experiences its own "shoulder season," but in a very different way.For the Roads Division, the shoulder season occurs in the winter after heavy rains cause slopes and hillsides to slide or move, piling mud and debris on the road shoulder. Or, it is when the road shoulders are undermined by erosion. The shoulder season can keep road employees traveling across the King County unincorporated areas for incidents large and small. They are responding to known slides, but also working preventively looking for the telltale sign of oozing, wet mud across the road shoulder, oftentimes with trees or limbs attached. Sometimes, it’s just a pickup truck full of debris that needs to be cleaned up and hauled away, but some jobs require several dump trucks. Besides the obvious – cleaning up the material with a front loader or excavator – there are a couple of other tactics that help stabilize the slopes and shoulders. Read More
Metro's Cecilia Hawley helps a customer with an ORCA card at the ticket vending machine at the Beacon Hill light rail station.
| Transit users ring in the decade with new electronic fare cardsIf you ride buses, trains or ferries in the Puget Sound region, the new year and decade are ringing in a new way to travel with the electronic ORCA card.
The ORCA smart card is a regional fare system involving King County Metro Transit and six partner transportation agencies. ORCA stands for “One Regional Card for All,” and is designed to make traveling easier and more convenient.
The ORCA card is a plastic smart card containing a microprocessor. ORCA cards come equipped with an “E-purse” function that allows a rider to preload fare value onto the card. Or, customers can purchase a pass product – such as the monthly PugetPass – and load it onto their ORCA card. It eliminates the need for correct change, or carrying around paper passes and transfers.
Customers can still pay cash, or use any unexpired FlexPass, UPass, Regional Reduced Fare Permit pass, and other fare media to ride on the seven systems. But, the ORCA card not only makes your trip easier, it also automatically gives you a transfer credit that can save you a significant amount of money. Riders using cash instead of an ORCA card to transfer between the different systems now pay the full fare for each leg of their ride.
For example, a commute-time trip from downtown Everett to downtown Seattle that includes transferring between two different bus systems costs $1.75 with an ORCA card. If you pay cash, that same trip is $3.25 because paper transfers have been eliminated and full fare is required for each bus boarding.
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The final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the project was signed by (from left): Harold Taniguchi, King County Department of Transportation; Dan Mathis, Federal Highway Administration; and Kathleen Davis, Washington State Department of Transportation. | South Park Bridge is ‘shovel ready’ for federal fundingFederal, state, and King County officials signed off on the final environmental review for a new South Park Bridge last Friday – signaling that the project is “shovel ready” if federal funding is approved.The 78-year-old South Park Bridge spans the Duwamish River and is located on 14th/16 Avenue South. It is a key transportation asset that serves the some of the largest manufacturing/industrial centers in the Northwest, including an international seaport and aviation hub.
Studies of the South Park Bridge show that the condition of the span is severely deteriorated and was made worse during the 2001 Nisqually Earthquake. There is widespread steel corrosion on the main spans, crumbling concrete piers, and an outdated electrical control system. The bridge has become increasingly difficult to maintain and repair, resulting in frequent bridge closures that disrupt both vehicle and marine traffic.
The bridge borders the cities of Seattle and Tukwila along with neighborhoods in unincorporated King County. Because it straddles multiple jurisdictions and a replacement bridge is such a costly project, it has been difficult to secure funding. King County Executive Dow Constantine has been a champion of replacing the bridge for many years, and has worked with other elected officials to find a funding solution.
In September, King County submitted an application for a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant to the U.S. Department of Transportation. The county and its project partners are requesting $99 million toward the replacement cost of the bridge. Just last week, Congress expanded the amount of grant money available to rebuild infrastructure and create new jobs, which may make a federal investment in the South Park Bridge even more attractive. The grants will be awarded early next year.
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Photo of the week
The route 101 passes by some fall foliage.
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RoadWatchNews from KCDOT's Road Services Division | Mink Road – The King County Road Services Division is working on the intersection of Woodinville-Duvall Road and Mink Road. The county is installing new turn lanes and traffic signals, widening shoulders, and improving drainage. The project should be completed by February. While no full road closures are expected during construction, motorists may experience periodic lane closures or traffic disruptions between the hours of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
View updated King County road closures and conditions online.
Check out your commute . . . Motorists can log onto the King County Road Services Division's My Commute Web site and view video images of traffic conditions in unincorporated areas. 
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