The City of Kirkland has begun one of its most ambitious capital projects ever – the N.E. 85th Street Corridor Project.

Construction has started at the west end of the corridor at N.E. 85th Street at 114th Avenue N.E. to build a second southbound-to-eastbound left turn lane and update traffic signal controller equipment.

The entire N.E. 85th Street Corridor Project will transform N.E. 85th Street from 120th Avenue N.E. to 132nd Avenue N.E. through a series of coordinated street improvements to reduce traffic congestion, increase capacity at key intersections, provide continuous sidewalks and landscape planter strips, underground overhead utility lines, and resurface and re-stripe the entire corridor.

Sound Transit has contributed funding for transit-related improvements.

Project information is available online at www.kirklandwa.gov/85thStreet, via email by subscribing to the “Kirkland E-Mail Alerts,” or by calling the 24-hour construction hotline at 425-587-3838.

Improvements at 114th Avenue and N.E. 85th involve one-lane road closures on 114th Avenue N.E. north as well as some lane closures on N.E. 85th Street.

Pedestrians and bicyclists will be accommodated; drivers, cyclists and walkers are encouraged to follow all signed detours and to use precautions when traveling in the vicinity.

Adjacent property owners will be notified in advance of any utility shut-offs. Construction hours will be 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., weekdays.

Construction phases will be staggered to minimize traffic congestion and reduce construction impacts.

Later this summer Puget Sound Energy (PSE) and Frontier Communications will begin relocating the poles along 124th Avenue N.E. in preparation for the installation of sidewalks on both sides of 124th Avenue N.E. (where there are none) between N.E. 80th and N.E. 90th streets.

PSE will also be relocating power poles along the N.E. 85th Street in preparation for undergrounding power lines later this summer.

Temporary video detection is scheduled to be added at all of the intersections along N.E. 85th Street from 120th Avenue N.E. to 132nd Avenue N.E. in early September to streamline traffic flow during construction.

When all elements are complete, the N.E. 85th Street Corridor Project will improve over a mile of urban arterial corridor with pedestrian, traffic signal and capacity improvements.