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Week of July 7, 2009
The culvert underneath Union Hill Road is deteriorating and blocked in some locations, which could cause the road to buckle, crack, or develop a sinkhole.
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County tackles challenging project on Union Hill Road
King County has two projects scheduled this summer to repair Northeast Union Hill Road east of Redmond, and the first one will begin on Monday, July 13.
The two badly needed road safety projects will require the road to be closed between 196th Avenue Northeast and 208th Avenue Northeast. Because this is a busy commuter corridor between Redmond and the lower Snoqualmie Valley, motorists are encouraged to: plan ahead for the closure; find alternate commute routes; and avoid traveling at peak times if possible.
The King County Road Services Division’s first project will replace an old culvert underneath Union Hill Road that has deteriorated. This will be a challenging project and require complete closure of the road, due to deep excavation into the steep slopes alongside the road.
The old culvert will be replaced to prevent future road failure. It will be replaced with a much larger pipe that will improve drainage, protect the roadbed and shoulders, and allow fish to pass under the roadway. This project is expected to take up to a month to complete.
The county also plans to construct a new supporting wall along another section of Union Hill Road that is close to the culvert replacement project. If possible, the second project will overlap with the first, in which case the road closure could last longer. Scheduling for the second project is still being worked out.
The new wall system will help repair damage to the road embankment from previous flooding. The county made temporary repairs last year, but a permanent solution is needed to prevent future damage and road failures. This project will include building a 160-foot long, 16-foot deep structural earth wall on the west side of the roadway.
During the closure of Union Hill Road, area residents and commuters can detour via Novelty Hill Road, Avondale Road, State Route 202 and 208th Avenue Northeast.
For more information about these projects, visit the Road Services Division’s construction website and enter “NE Union Hill Road” in the search area.
The rock weir will help filter stormwater that runs off the road into the ditch.
| When stormwater runoff flows over roadways, rooftops and lawns, it has the potential to pick up pollutants along the way. The water quality in streams, rivers and lakes may deteriorate, if polluted stormwater flows into them without any treatment to remove the pollutants. That is why the King County Road Services Division is trying to find simple, affordable ways to improve stormwater quality as it flows through the many roadside ditches that exist in unincorporated King County.
Using grant funding provided by the Washington State Department of Ecology, the division has installed prototype weirs in four roadside ditch locations. The division staff used Best Management Practices (BMPs) to design the one-foot tall rock weirs. Each has a treatment cell containing either compost or sand. The intent is to slow down the stormwater as it flows through the ditch to combat the sudden surges that can add sediment to the flow, and also to filter out some of the particles.
Roads staff will conduct stormwater monitoring at the test sites over the next two years. Flows will be measured and samples will be collected to determine the effectiveness of the designs used. If successful, similar weirs could be installed throughout the region to help improve water quality.
To learn more about the division's efforts to improve stormwater quality, visit the project website.
Westbound buses are being rerouted between Eastgate and Mercer Island to avoid the traffic chokepoints. | Construction began this week on westbound Interstate 90 across Lake Washington, and the normal five lanes of traffic has been narrowed to two across Mercer Island and the lake as crews replace the expansion joints on the westbound floating bridge. This has resulted in delays for all vehicles traveling westbound.
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is warning the traffic delays could last an hour or more and stretch from Issaquah to Seattle. On the first two mornings of the closure, the backups have been shorter than that, but still significantly longer than the normal commute. The work should be completed by July 20.
Bus riders can expect delays in bus travel times, because all vehicles will be using the HOV express lanes across the lake into Seattle. King County Metro Transit is making every effort to add buses to maintain departure schedules on east-west routes across I-90. Also, Metro is currently rerouting all Seattle-bound service that travels westbound on I-90 from Snoqualmie, Sammamish, Issaquah Highlands, Issaquah and Eastgate. This diverts buses around several anticipated I-90 choke points and gives them a queue jump onto Mercer Island.
In addition to I-90, construction projects are also slowing bus travel in other locations, including: southbound on Second Avenue in downtown Seattle; on Stewart Street in Seattle; at the Interstate 5 ramps to South 272nd Street in the Star Lake area; and Interstate 405 ramps between Renton and Bellevue. The Second Avenue project has also closed bus stops. Check Metro Online for the details.
The Seattle Mariners have a 1:40 p.m. game on Wednesday, July 8. 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 during the Wednesday afternoon commute 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 Rideshare Online is the quick and easy way to carpool to the home games. Visit Rideshare Online and select "Ridematch to regional events" for all the details.
The Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT) is closing each night this week through Friday, July 10. The tunnel will close at 7 p.m. for drills and testing leading up to the July 18 startup of Link light rail. The tunnel will also be closed to bus service the weekend of July 18 and 19. During some of the drills, you may notice fire department and other emergency vehicles parked outside tunnel entrances. When the DSTT is closed, tunnel bus routes will stop on downtown surface streets. More information about those locations can be found online.
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