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Week of Mar. 20, 2006
After rough winter, county Roads crews welcome spring
 Crews in the King County Roads Services Division (RSD) are welcoming the arrival of spring this week, even as they gear up for a busy season repairing the damage caused by winter storms.
This past winter was surprisingly costly in damage to roads in unincorporated King County. Preliminary estimates indicate that repairs related to the 2005-2006 winter will total approximately $7.5 million. Some repairs have already been completed, but there is still a lot of work left to do.
“The impacts of this past winter have been cumulative,” said RSD Director Linda Dougherty. “In many cases, each storm built on damage from the previous ones to cause ongoing problems in the same area. In some parts of the county, we are still tallying up repairs and cost estimates.”
The region experienced a record 31 straight days of rain in December and January that saturated soils and caused significant mudslides. In King County, the most damaging was a series of slides just north of the Cedar River near Jones Road between Renton and Maple Valley.
In that case, about 7,000 cubic yards of mud slid from the hillside abutting Southeast 148th Street. The debris overtopped roads, overflowed a sediment pond, and flooded nearby homes. A section of Southeast 148th Street, a private road, is still closed by the slide.
 There were also slides on South 272nd Way, Preston-Fall City Road, Simonds Road, West Snoqualmie Valley Road, North Bend Way, Peasley Canyon Road, and Dorre Don Way. In those situations, emergency repairs kept the roadways open, but planning is now underway for more permanent repairs. There are a few locations where the earth is still moving, which makes planning and timing the repairs even more difficult.
“We have to stay on top of these projects, or we could lose entire sections of the roadway as we did when Issaquah Creek undermined the Issaquah-Hobart Road in January,” said Dougherty. “We are constantly monitoring the condition of the pavement, the shoulders, and the adjacent landscape.”
Crews are also running inspections for sinkholes, collapsing culverts, large road cracks, washed out shoulders, and blocked drainage pipes – all of which could cause more serious damage if not repaired soon. One of the challenging things is that many of the important repairs that need to be done are not on the road surface.
“Most people don’t notice when a roadside shoulder starts sloughing off,” said Dougherty. “But, the shoulder is a vital part of the road, and if we don’t protect and reinforce it, we can lose the entire roadway.”
Currently, the Roads Division is planning major repairs in almost 40 locations – including 10 on Vashon Island. The work will include: stabilizing hillsides with rock; adding dirt and gravel to rebuild shoulders; filling and patching cracks in the roadway; and clearing out culverts and drainage pipes.
“This is a large scope of work, and will have to be spread out over the next 12 to 18 months,” said Dougherty. “We plan on applying for federal disaster aid and other grants, because our Roads Maintenance budget is already stretched so thinly.”
She said the storm repair work must also be programmed so it will not interfere with the long-term maintenance projects that were already scheduled to take place in 2006 and 2007. Whenever possible, projects will be combined to lessen disruptions for the public and maximize efficiency for the crews.
Brandy Rettig and Katherine Merrell are two respected members of the King County Road Services Division. Rettig is an engineer in the Engineering Services Section, and Merrell is an environmental engineer. But they also command respect in another “arena” outside of work. Both Merrell and Rettig are members of the Rat City Rollergirls, Seattle’s first and only all-female roller derby league. Named after a historic term for a South Seattle neighborhood, the league was established via a grassroots movement of strong-minded women in April 2004. It is comprised of four teams with more than 70 member/owners and alumni. These teams participate in competitive roller derby bouts on a flat track in an amateur athletic season that lasts from March through October. 
“Being involved in the Rollergirls allows me to compete in a sport in the way that no other sport offers,” said Rettig. “In addition to being able to be trained by amazing coaches – one of whom helped set up the programs for Olympic inline speed skating – I have a community of strong, passionate, and motivated women as friends, league mates and business partners.” Merrell, who is a co-founder and business operations manager for the league, is excited to be back skating after two major knee operations. “I am also working directly on our upcoming national invitational with One Reel Productions at this year's Bumbershoot Festival at the Seattle Center,” said Merrell. “The national invitational will feature the Rat City Rollergirls competing for a cash prize against seven other flat track leagues from across the nation.” If you can’t wait until that event in September, you can catch Rettig (aka “Rettig to Rumble”) and Merrell (aka “Dixie Dragstrip”) at their next bout this Saturday, March 25, at Hangar 30 at Magnuson Park in Seattle. Check out the Rollergirls’ website for details. |
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King County Executive Ron Sims was recently honored by the staff and students at Aviation High School (AHS). Sims and retired Highline School District Superintendent Dr. Joe McGeehan received the first “Break of Day” Award at the Second Annual Dan Hartley Memorial Scholarship Dinner on March 14. AHS Principal Reba Gilman and Erik Lindbergh, pilot, noted artist, and grandson of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh, presented the award. The award acknowledged Sims and McGeehan’s key leadership in opening the unique school two years ago. More than 300 people attended the event and raised several thousand dollars for college scholarships to benefit AHS students. AHS is the first four-year high school in the nation to emphasize aviation studies. Any student with a passion for aviation and aerospace may apply to attend, and can come from any school district. The students have a close relationship with King County International Airport. KCIA and the more than 150 aviation businesses at Boeing Field serve as a real-world laboratory for the school and its students.
King County Metro Transit will begin serving the new South Sammamish Park-and-Ride on Tuesday morning, March 21. Metro routes 216, 269 and 927 will pick-up and drop-off passengers at one of two new stops, either inside the park-and-ride or southbound along 228th Avenue Southeast in front of the lot. The park-and-ride was built by Sound Transit, and will be owned and operated by Metro. For more information about service, see specific route timetables on Metro Online. For information about the project, see Sound Transit's project website.
Construction now underway at Mercer Island Park-and-RideKing County Metro Transit’s Mercer Island Park-and-Ride is now closed for approximately one year for the construction of a new parking garage. Sound Transit is building the new garage with 450 stalls on two levels. King County Metro Transit’s Mercer Island Park-and-Ride is now closed for approximately one year for the construction of a new parking garage. Sound Transit is building the new garage with 450 stalls on two levels.During the temporary closure of the park-and-ride lot, all Metro and Sound Transit buses that now stop at the North Mercer Way boarding locations near the Mercer Island Park-and-Ride will continue to stop there. Several parking alternatives are available for transit passengers, both on and off the island. Metro and Sound Transit are providing shuttle service via routes 202 and 205 to three nearby parking locations to help island residents connect with off-island bus service. Non-island residents who have been using the Mercer Island Park-and-Ride are strongly encouraged to use one of the other park-and-ride lots along Interstate 90 – particularly the Eastgate Park-and-Ride or the new Issaquah Highlands Park-and-Ride. For more information about bus service and alternative parking locations during the closure of the Mercer Island Park-and-Ride, visit Metro Online. For information on the new parking garage, visit Sound Transit’s website. |
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