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Road Division wraps up construction season
It’s October, the rainy season will soon arrive, and the King County Road Services Division is buttoning up another construction season.
King County Project Manager Kris Beatty holds ground asphalt shingles. | Over the past several years, dwindling revenues have forced the division to focus most of its summer work on preserving existing roads and bridges and keeping them safe for travel. And that was accomplished over the past six months by the division.
“With our limited funds we are focused on safety, preservation and maintenance,” said Division Director Linda Dougherty. “This summer, we completed significant work on guardrail installation, repaving roads in unincorporated areas, and replacing three short span bridges. We would have liked to do more, but I think we got as much bang for our buck this summer as we possibly could."
As usual, the division started out the construction season cleaning up damage caused by last winter’s weather. It completed approximately $10 million in storm-related work that included repairs of washout and slide damage, plus work to restripe lane markers, clean up debris, and fix potholes.
In March, the division kicked off the biggest project of the year – replacement of the Bandaret Bridge on May Valley Road. That $6.9 million project is on schedule to be completed in November. When it opens, there will be two 12-foot driving lanes and eight-foot shoulders.
Three short-span bridges were also replaced this summer in southeast King County. The bridges replaced were 60 to 70 years old and contained rotting timbers. The new bridges are constructed of concrete and steel to last longer. In addition, along the North Fork Road, the Road Services Division is completing construction on a new steel truss bridge costing $1.0 million that replaces the deteriorating log stringer Sunday Creek Bridge.
The division is also preparing to begin intersection improvements to the intersection of Northeast Woodinville-Duvall Road and Mink Road. The improvements will reduce traffic delays and improve sight distance.
Culvert replacements are another set of important projects that extend the life of county roads and reduce local flooding. This year to date, the division has completed 12 culvert projects.
Approximately $500,000 will be spent in the fall and winter to install new guardrail and provide other safety improvements on multiple roadway corridors on Vashon Island and in areas near South Park, Redmond, Auburn, Lake Retreat, and Black Diamond.
Bandaret Bridge | Another $1.0 million was spent countywide making pedestrian ramp improvements as part of the county’s ongoing Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Program.
Countywide more than 30 lane miles of roadway were repaved to improve the driving surface and extend the lifecycle of those roads and an additional 21 miles of roadway on Vashon Island were chip sealed.
The paving program featured an innovative demonstration project on a two-mile stretch near Enumclaw this year. The Road Service Division teamed up with King County Solid Waste to recycle asphalt shingles and pavement into fresh batches of hot mix asphalt.
Every year, approximately 17,000 tons of tear-off asphalt shingles from re-roofing projects are generated in King County. It’s estimated that just one home re-roofing project sends one to three tons of shingles to a landfill.
For the demonstration project, the Road Services Division selected Southeast 416th Street north of Enumclaw. The arterial was already scheduled to be repaved this year, and provided a good mix of car and truck traffic for analysis of the durability of the recycled surface. If the recycled material proves to be durable, it could help the Road Services Division save money on future paving projects.
Both the University of Washington Huskies and the Seattle Seahawks host football games this weekend, and Metro is a great way to tackle traffic to get to the game.
On Saturday, Oct. 10, the Arizona Wildcats invade Husky Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff. Remember, this year the Huskies are offering free bus service to the stadium from nine park-and-ride lots. Also, any bus trip on Metro to the stadium is free when you show your game ticket.
The Seahawks game on Sunday is at 1 p.m. again Jacksonville. Metro has many routes that stop at or near Qwest Field. Use the online Trip Planner to look up the routes and times that work best for you.
Metro is launching an “In Motion” program in southeast Seattle to help local residents take advantage of all the recent bus service changes in their neighborhood.
Last month, more than 20 Metro bus routes were revised to reduce duplication of transit services and better connect with the new light rail service. Some routes have more frequent service in the morning and evening, and other routes were revised, reduced or discontinued.
The In Motion program in southeast Seattle is designed to encourage residents to explore their new travel options – both by bus and light rail. To get them started, each participant will receive Metro and Link tickets, as well as a large southeast Seattle map that includes the new routes, the Link stations, pedestrian paths, and key information about service changes and fare payment translated in five languages.
Nine members of the Air Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF) unit at King County International Airport recently completed the rigorous exam for Firefighter 1 accreditation.
Achieving Firefighter 1 status requires meeting International and state-adopted performance standards, passing an extensive written exam, and passing a very demanding practical exam. Each firefighter was tested on 16 out of 75 different skills, but had to master all 75, as which skills they’d be tested was not known until the day of the exam.
All of the ARFF candidates who took the exam passed it. They are: Don Davis; Kirk Wills; Paula Proffitt; Jim Noss; Tim McClung; Bruce McClure; Gene Stephens; Lou Caballero; and Graydon Matheson. Congratulations to all!
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