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Week of April 20, 2009
Every day is earth day at KCDOT
Crews lay down porous concrete on a county sidewalk project.
| At the King County Department of Transportation, Earth Day is observed 365 days a year not just on April 22. That’s because the department and its divisions are incorporating green practices into daily operations whenever and wherever possible.
These sustainable practices range from purchasing hybrid vehicles to using environmentally preferable products for cleaning. There is also a strong commitment to energy savings and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Some practices, such as Metro Transit’s purchase of hybrid buses and the Roads Division’s waste recycling programs, are frequently in the spotlight. But, here is a sampling of other KCDOT activities that also help protect our environment:
Airport operations – At King County International Airport (KCIA) at Boeing Field, there are specially designated locations for washing and de-icing aircraft. The five airport-owned and six tenant-owned wash pads have collection systems that route runoff directly to the sewer for disposal. The airport also requires airplane operators to use small bottles to contain fuel samples rather than just let tested fuel spill to the ground.
Asphalt – Since 2001, the King County Road Services Division has used an asphalt cold patch that reduces the amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released to the environment. This product is a dry, odorless, ready-to-use asphalt-based compound used to repair potholes, cracks, and other defects in paved surfaces. It contains 75 percent post-consumer asphalt and hardens by compaction. Traditional cold patch hardens through a combination of compaction and evaporation of a petroleum-based carrier, such as kerosene. This evaporation releases large amounts of VOCs, which are not present in this product. Also, Roads teamed up with the county’s Solid Waste Division to pilot the use of reclaimed asphalt shingles in hot mix asphalt for a paving trial to take place this year.
Buildings – Metro Transit’s use of green building design and construction techniques has garnered several awards via the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. That includes Gold status for the new Transit Communications and Control Center opened in 2008.
Cleaning products – King County agencies have tested and used many cleaners that have been marketed as “green” with varying degrees of success. The market has improved dramatically for environmentally preferable cleaners in the past few years, as standards and certification programs have begun to emerge and more products have become certified. Metro Transit has been evaluating environmentally preferable cleaners for several years with good results. An unexpected benefit of this evaluation has been reduction of the number of different chemicals used in transit facilities from dozens to just two main multi-purpose cleaning products. Metro also adopted the use of microfiber cleaning cloths for all cleaning operations, which reduces the amount of water needed for clean-up activities.
Concrete – The Roads Division has increased its use of porous concrete in sidewalk projects because it allows water to drain through the surface and infiltrate directly into the soil below. This lowers the cost of stormwater infrastructure by eliminating the need for a retention vault or pond and by reducing overall impervious surface areas. Last year, the division used 1,200 square yards of porous concrete at a roundabout project near Auburn and at an environmentally sensitive area near Lake Washington.
KCDOT Director Harold Taniguchi tests out the connection on a plug-in vehicle.
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Flexible fuel – In 2008, the Fleet Administration Division replaced approximately 150 county vehicles with cars and trucks equipped to use ethanol, gasoline, or “E85,” the term for fuel blends of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. Using E85 reduces carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrocarbon and benzene emissions when compared to vehicles running on gasoline.
Goat crews – Metro continues to hire a goat herder and his crew of 270 weed chompers each summer for natural vegetation control at park-and-ride lots. These particular sites have been difficult to maintain due to steep hillsides and uneven ground. The goats are a more efficient way to control the weeds than crews of human workers, and eliminate the need for chemical weed killers.
Interior lighting – The Roads Division upgraded one of its old buildings by retrofitting the interior lighting. Thanks to a grant from Puget Sound Energy, they were able to replace more than 700 outdated fluorescent bulbs with new, more energy-efficient T-8’s. Energy consumption for the entire facility is expected to be cut in half.
Plastic lumber – The Fleet Division’s maintenance facility requires new dump trucks to be outfitted with recycled plastic sideboards before delivery. High-quality old growth Douglas-fir had been used, but it is increasingly scarce and expensive. Since 1996, Fleet has used recycled plastic because it is more impact-resistant and needs to be replaced less frequently, saving money in the long-term. Replacement was immediately reduced from two wooden sideboards per week to less than one plastic sideboard per month which saves $10,000 per year in materials costs alone.
Plug-in vehicles – Fleet has teamed up with other local and regional governments to create a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) demonstration project, funded by a grant from the Idaho National Laboratory of the United States Department of Energy. King County purchased four battery conversion kits in 2008 to convert conventional hybrids already in its fleet into PHEVs, which brings the total to five in the fleet.
Solar lighting – Metro has been installing energy efficient solar light-emitting diode (LED) bus shelter lighting since 2004. Solar-powered lighting allows Metro to install lighted bus stops without the expense and construction of connecting the facility to the regional power grid and LED technology consumes far less power than typical lighting systems. Metro Transit installed 38 solar-powered lighting systems in 2008 bringing the total number of solar-lit shelters to 140.
Vehicle maintenance – Both Metro and Fleet have thousands of vehicles to maintain and have upped their use of environmentally preferable antifreeze, motor oil, and other engine lubricants. Both divisions use motor oil made with re-refined base-stock and antifreeze manufactured with re-refined ethylene glycol. Bio-based lubricants were tested by Fleet and found to perform as well or better than petroleum oils. They are readily biodegradable, low in toxicity, and are safer for workers.
With the new ORCA fare cards, you just tap your card to the reader on the bus, train, or ferry.
| Transit customers across the Puget Sound region now have a new “smart” fare card that lets them travel more easily between bus, train and ferry.The ORCA card makes rummaging for correct change a thing of the past. When boarding, ORCA riders simply tap their electronic cards on a reader device. This new system replaces about 300 various passes, tickets and transfers with a single card that works for all seven of the major public transportation agencies serving King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties. A limited rollout of the system starts this week, and at the same time the partner agencies will identify and resolve remaining technical issues in a live environment. The phase-in of ORCA will continue through the end of the year as people’s current transit passes expire and are replaced by ORCA cards. The phased process will give transit customers and the agencies time to transition to the new system.
The seven ORCA partners are Community Transit, Everett Transit, King County Metro Transit, Kitsap Transit, Pierce Transit, Sound Transit and Washington State Ferries. Together, the agencies serve more than half of Washington’s population and carry more than 500,000 riders daily.
To find out more about ORCA and how to get your own card, visit the ORCA website.
TRAFFIC ALERT: Plan now for I-90 congestionStarting Monday, May 4 the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) will close the HOV express lanes on the Interstate 90 bridge across Lake Washington around the clock for up to three weeks. This is likely to cause significant delays for all traffic – including buses and carpools. Without the I-90 express lanes, WSDOT is warning that funneling all traffic into the mainline lanes across the bridge could result in delays of up to 30-40 minutes. The state anticipates the delays will be most disruptive westbound in the mornings and eastbound in the afternoons. And, there could also be related slowdowns on State Route 520, Interstate 405 and Interstate 5. If you regularly use I-90 or SR-520 to cross the lake, it’s not too early to make plans for dealing with the projected congestion. Metro is offering special vanpool and carpool incentives, and the bus is always an option. As mentioned above, transit service will be subject to the same delays as other vehicles, but at least you help get one more car off the road and you can relax while someone else does the driving. And don’t shelve your May plan, because there’s more work to come on the bridge in July when WSDOT closes down all the westbound mainline lanes. Those delays are projected to be up to 60 minutes.
The Seattle Mariners have a 3:40 p.m. game on Thursday, April 23. Traffic through the downtown and Sodo areas could be congested both before and after the game. Bus passengers who are traveling through the downtown area in the early evening on Thursday may experience some reroutes and delays in transit service. If you are going to the game, there is plenty of regular Metro service to and near the stadium; plus, RideshareOnline is the quick and easy way to carpool to the home games. Visit RideshareOnline and select "Ridematch to regional events" for all the details.
Airport staff are proud of their new rig.
| New airport fire truck is officially officialAfter months of prepping, planning and training, the staff at King County International Airport (KCIA) at Boeing Field took a moment last week to dedicate the airport’s new Striker 3000 fire truck. At the April 15 dedication, King County Executive Ron Sims joined King County Department of Transportation Director Harold Taniguchi, KCIA Director Robert Burke, KCIA Fire/Police Chief Bryan Howard, King County Sheriff Sue Rahr, KCIA Roundtable representative Peter Anderson, and customers and neighbors of the airport. Sims praised the successful partnership of the airport community and commended everyone for upholding the responsibility of safety.
Metro will be repairing and seal-coating the park-and-pool lot adjacent to the Northgate Transit Center beginning Monday, April 27. The lot has approximately 450 spaces just east of the transit center. The work will be done in two phases. Roughly half the spaces on the south end of the lot will be unavailable for parking for two and a half weeks starting on April 27. Once that work is completed, the north end of the lot will be shut down for repair for another two and a half weeks. During the project, transit customers are encouraged to use the park-and-ride spaces in the garage of the new Thornton Place development at Northeast 103rd Street and Third Avenue Northeast. The garage is located across the street from the park-and-pool lot. |
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