News from King County Department of Transportation
Release date:  July 26, 2007

Three road projects scheduled for Vashon Island

In August and September, the King County Road Services Division will begin road repair projects in three separate locations near Quartermaster and Tramp harbors on Vashon Island.

The first project is a culvert replacement on Chautauqua Beach Road where the roadway is cracking and groundwater is seeping to the surface from two failing underground culverts. The road will be closed just north of Southwest Ellisport Road from 7 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 1 to 3:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 31. Motorists can detour via: Ridge Road Southwest; Southwest 184th Street; Beall Road Southwest; Southwest Bank Road; and Vashon Highway Southwest.

During the week of Aug. 13, the county will repair a 100-foot section of the bulkhead supporting Vashon Highway Southwest near 115th Avenue Southwest near Magnolia Beach. The project is expected to take three to four weeks to complete. One lane of the highway will remain open at all times, and flaggers will direct traffic through the work zone.

Crews will repair the failing sections of bulkhead that protect the road. In some areas, high tides wash over the roadway causing shoulder erosion and threatening roadway failure.

The project will involve construction of a new rock bulkhead and installing new materials to minimize roadway erosion.

Then, in late August or early September, the county will begin a similar project to rebuild the bulkhead supporting Southwest Quartermaster Drive near the intersection with Portage Way Southwest. Once again, one lane of the roadway will remain open at all times and flaggers will direct traffic through the work zone.

Both the Vashon Highway and Quartermaster Drive projects are critical repairs that need to be completed before the next storm season. Neither of these projects are part of the future Dockton Road preservation project.