The following is a rundown of current capital projects from the city of Kirkland:
CROSS KIRKLAND CORRIDOR
Scores of residents celebrated the Jan. 31 opening of the Cross Kirkland Corridor with Kirkland’s City Council and other leaders, including King County Council Member Jane Hague. Residents arrived to the Northeast 68th Street bridge on bikes, on feet and with strollers. The event marked the first day of official opening for the Corridor’s interim trail.
COCHRAN SPRINGS
Lake Washington Boulevard will close for at least a month this summer north of Northup Way for a project aimed at reducing flood risks and improving fish habitat. The City of Kirkland will be replacing a pair of 24-inch culverts at Cochran Springs with a box culvert that is 15-foot-wide and seven feet deep. The City will also be removing an estimated 24 tons of sediment that has accumulated downstream of the existing culverts. That sediment causes water in the stream to back-up and, on occasion, overflow the roadway. The sediment deposits also smother fish-rearing habitat.
SIXTH STREET
Progress on the Sixth Street water main continues south toward Kirkland Way. Kirkland’s contractor expects to complete the installation by the middle of March. Kar-Vel Construction has so far installed the new 12-inch water main from Central Way to the northside of Kirkland Way. Kar-Vel president Mike Waldner said he expects crews to reach Kirkland Avenue by the middle of February, at which point they’ll focus on testing the water line for leaks and sanitation and then connecting it to the lateral service lines.
“It’s going well,” Waldner said. “There’ve been some changing conditions. But overall, it’s going well.”
Kar-Vel will begin later in March replacing the six-inch concrete sewer pipe near Fifth Place South with 200 feet of an eight-inch PVC sewer pipe.
To achieve this, Kar-Vel will close the pedestrian path that connects Fifth Place South to Eighth Street South.
PARK LANE
Kirkland residents continue to visit, shop and dine on Park Lane while Kirkland’s contractor continues making progress on the Park Lane makeover. Marshbank Construction has built smooth pedestrian walkways along both sides of the street and enveloped the construction site in fencing. Crews are currently excavating the street for the water main are installing. Marshbank expects to finish installing the water main on the west block—between Lake Street and Third Street—this week. Marshbank’s current schedule projects an Park Lane to be open to the public by the end of April.
NORTHEAST 85TH STREET
Kirkland’s Northeast 85th Street improvements contractor is nearing completion on the installation of the 85th Street water main in the intersection of 132nd Avenue Northeast. Johansen Excavating expects to begin filling, flushing and testing the new water main the week of Feb. 5. That process will continue into early March. As soon as Johansen finishes connecting the 85th Street water main to the laterals in each intersection, its day crews will begin building and rebuilding the street’s sidewalks. Johansen expects to finish the entire project by fall.
STREET PRESERVATION
Eight of Kirkland’s arterials will receive new surfaces this year. Kirkland will repave Lake Washington Boulevard this spring, from Lakeview Drive to 10th Street. Later in the summer, the City will repave Seventh Avenue South, portions of Northeast 60th, 141st and 144th streets, as well as 116th, 124th and 132nd avenues northeast. To prepare these arterials for overlay, Kirkland will also be upgrading the curb ramps of the sidewalks along them. In addition, the City will be extending by eight years the lives of nearly 30 lane miles of neighborhood roads in North Rose Hill, Kingsgate and North Juanita neighborhoods. To achieve this, Kirkland be using slurry seal, a street preservation tool, which the City has used for a decade.
NORTHEAST 80TH STREET
Northeast 80th Street will receive a new water and sewer main later this year. The City will replace the sewer main from 124th Avenue Northeast to 128th Avenue Northeast. It will replace the water main from 124th Avenue Northeast to Northeast 80th Street’s intersection with 132nd Avenue Northeast. Project staff are coordinating the exact timing of this project with the on-going Northeast 85th Street project.
INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS
Construction will begin in early spring on the Intelligent Transportation Systems project aimed at reducing traffic congestion through intersection technology along Kirkland’s most-traveled corridors. The project’s first phase will connect the City of Kirkland’s Transportation Management Center to traffic signals along the Central Way to Northeast 85th Street corridor, as well as the Lake Washington Boulevard, Market Street and 100th Avenue Northeast corridors. Its second phase will do the same along Northeast 132nd Street, 120th and 124th Avenues Northeast in Totem Lake and along 100th Avenue Northeast and Juanita-Woodinville Way. Project engineers expect to finish construction on the first phase by fall. They expect to finish construction on the second phase in early 2016. When complete, the new Intelligent Transportation Systems technology will provide real-time traffic information to Kirkland’s transportation engineers, who can use that information to remotely adjust the synchronization of traffic signals.
