Written by Renton, Newcastle, and King County have been collaborating on a Street improvement project, which will replace the May Creek bridge and complete two lanes each direction on Coal Creek Parkway, from Renton to Newcastle. When completed, this will no-doubt make life easier for drivers heading North from Renton Highlands.
We were relieved that Newcastle has found a bridge builder who can leave the existing May Creek bridge in place while building the new one, ensuirng that we don’t lose connectivity between Renton and Newcastle during the year of constuction.
However, Renton Council has recently been informed that the project will over-run by $3,000,000 if we try to leave Coal Creek (Duval) open during the widening…so a detour has been proposed to council that would use Union Ave, then cut-over to Duval at 95th Ave. The detour would last one year.
Council has not acted formally on this proposal yet, but we are already getting resident feedback.
What do you think we should do? $3,000,000 is a lot of taxpayer money, but some of the concerns seem justified. Are there mitigating steps we could take?
Here is an email we just recieved on this topic.
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Subject: Coal Creek Road Closure – VOTE NO!
I am writing to ask you to vote no on the proposed year long road closure of Coal Creek Parkway between Sunset and SE 95th Way.
Union Avenue is not designed to be a major thoroughfare. As a long time resident of the Sierra Heights neighborhood (22 years) I am very dismayed that the Renton City Council would even consider such a proposal. The traffic in this area is already intolerable and I cannot imagine what Union will be like if you close Coal Creek Parkway. I understand that the end result is to improve the traffic in our area but I feel that this is a very bad plan with little regard for the neighborhood. Have you considered what would happen if we had a bad snowstorm? Union Avenue’s hill is impassable in such weather (and forget the hill on 122nd Avenue SE and Lynnwood Ave., it is also treacherous during bad weather) leaving only May Valley, causing incredible gridlock. Also, what about Sierra Heights Elementary School? There will be increased safety concerns for children walking to school and also much more traffic to contend with during drop off and pick up times. Not a safe situation.
I understand that there is no incentive being offered to the Contractor to finish early or even on time. This also seems to be a bad idea.
I am also dismayed that there was not more public notification regarding last week’s public meeting which I would have like to have attended if I had been notified.
I would ask that you reconsider this closure and look for another solution. It is bad enough that the City of Renton allowed an incredible number of homes to be built without ensuring adequate roads for this area (prior to building) but now you want to make a bad situation even worse with these proposed detours. VOTE NO PLEASE!
Thank you.
Oooh…yeah, I agree. Bad idea. Can 148th serve as a detour instead? 95th is just not designed to have that much traffic.
Randy, I implore the council to either fund the overrun, or figure out another alternative. As a resident of Summerwind, with Children that go to Sierra Heights, I echo the previous e-mailers comments. I would fear for the safety of the kids and families getting to the school, during the commutes. Speaking of commute, I travel every day on Coal Creek, and can only imagine the disastrous consequences of rerouting 1000s of vehicles on Union Ave. Today, it is horrible, but a year of that detour will make life extremely miserable, unsafe. My opinion is we would be victims of the poor planning. How in the world can a project plan not anticipate the discrepancy in time to complete, versus 3 million dollars?
Police Annex needed up here in the Highlands now.
The overrun would have been 3Mil. Let’s use that paper gain that was saved by closing Duvall to increase police presence to enforce the speeding and road rage incidents that will occur, and the burglary rates that will increase in Summewind as people from other areas, cruising through our neighborhood realize there is some really nice stuff here to steal while we’re at work. Build a Police Annex behind Bank of America in the little Strip Mall at Duvall and 900. I am a concerned security conscious Summerwind resident who will be selling cool aid to the traffic jammers in front of my once peaceful neighborhood and starting block watches where necessary like a good Renton citizen. I promise to give Randy all my profits as he runs for Mayor soon. Cheers.
This is GREAT feedback from the Community!!! We need everybody to participate and give us THEIR best ideas about alternatives. If you don’t think the proposed option is a good one, what is YOUR idea to get us through completion of this project????
Everyone seems to agree, that Coal Creek Parkway/Duvall Ave, needs to be improved. Getting to that end will not be easy. Please give constructive input to this process and not just criticize. You all are smart people and know your neighborhoods best. Council IS LISTENING!
Marcie Palmer
Thank you, Marcie AND Randy, for listening and being so open to feedback, AND for being patient with people who want to vent.
As bad a solution as 148th is (inconvenient, May Valley Road won’t handle the traffic well, etc., not to mention it would really make my life miserable as I live on Sunset between Duvall and 148th), I really think that it’s a better one than rerouting people down 95th. My main concern–the elementary school. I go through the intersection at Sunset and Duvall every morning at the peak of rush hour, and I’m always frightened for the Hazen students walking to school. People run red lights with frequency (sometimes as many as four cars at a time!), people speed, people don’t pay attention… bad with the Hazen kids, REALLY bad for the elementary kids.
I think the Council really needs to think about the two options that another poster brought up–eat the $3 million (ouch!) or (better yet), offer them incentives to be done early. I absolutely agree that it’s a necessary project and that people are going to be inconvenienced regardless, but I’d really like to look at the safety of the kids in the neighborhoods, and the Glencoe/Sierra Heights neighborhoods will be more directly affected than the neighborhoods around the 148th detour, which therefore seems to be the lesser of two evils. (Although whatever we end up with, I think we need more traffic enforcement during rush hour at the Sunset/Duvall interchange.)
Will this be discussed at a Council meeting anytime soon? I couldn’t make the public meeting, but I can usually make Council meetings.
Hmmm…..
Can you take some of the 3,000,000 and make one of the detours routes not suck? Add a temporary lane or two? Close the sidewalk and make more lanes?
Coal Creek to Duvall Ave NE road widening project
Coal Creek to Duvall Ave closure considerations:
a. work commutes from Renton and south of Renton to Bellevue, Redmond, and Seattle
b. consumers from Newcastle and South Bellevue who come to East Renton to buy appliances, dine, and use other services
c. buyers who easily wander south on Coal Creek to Renton seeking out more affordable Renton home prices and buy new or used homes here
d. high school and middle school buses for both Renton and Issaquah districts from Newcastle
e. heavier traffic on Edmonds Ave Ne and on Ne 27th St in Kennydale using exit 6 to I405
One year is a long time and this is a difficult decision for the city council to consider.
Thanks for this topic, Randy. I got the public meeting announcement in the mail and was unable to attend, but offered some comments to the staff handling the project. They seem genuinely interested in knowing what we think, so I’m hopeful that they take the public comment they get and come up with version 2 of the plan. Renton has a great staff, so I don’t doubt that will be the case.
My primary comment was regarding the Sierra Heights neighborhood, and how it seems inappropriate to sign that as a detour route. I suggest offering *one* detour route, down 148th to May Valley Road. People who know about the Sierra Heights “shortcut” will take it, but your general commuter coming from the NE 4th area won’t, and will follow detour signs to 148th.
Another thing to consider is the recent I-5 construction through Seattle, and how WSDOT was predicting backups to Tacoma for 2 solid weeks. People modified their routes, and traffic delays were kept to a minimum. The same will be the case here — if the detour is too backed up, people will find another way to get to where they’re going. Surprisingly enough, 405 and Coal Creek take approximately the same amount of time right now any time after 7am – especially when Duvall is backed up to Sunset.
Living along Sunset east of Duvall Ave, I know how bad traffic is along that road right now, and know firsthand how hard it is to turn across traffic into a neighborhood. It’s only going to get worse during the construction. I know this won’t be a popular option, but the speed limit needs to be lowered along Sunset – and strictly enforced (revenue opportunity) – during the project. This has the potential to be a nightmare for people whose only way into their neighborhood is by making a left turn across Sunset, especially as people zip along at extremely high rates of speed right now. Oh, and the red light runners are a definite revenue source.
Ultimately, I think the cost savings will win out — I’d rather see $3M put up as performance incentives to get the project done quickly. It’s going to be an inconvenience no matter what — why not pay for less of an inconvenience?
Colin Walker
Keep the bridge open
It sounds like detouring traffic is not a reasonable solution to the problem. The surrounding streets and neighborhoods were not designed to handle that kind of traffic, and serious public safety and quality of life issues would result from a detour. If the original plan was to keep the existing bridge open during construction, then I think that goal should remain, and we just need to find a way to fund it. Would the City be responsible for the entire $3 million overrun, or would it be split between KC and Newcastle?
If I lived in the surrounding neighborhoods, I would certainly make it my #1 priority in life to prevent the detour plan from happening. I think the Council would be setting the stage for a battle royale with residents if it voted to go forward with a detour.
Re: Keep the bridge open
Kevin, I appreciate your words on this issue, especially coming from outside the affected area. This would be a nightmare for both safty and, quality of live issues. I could not agree more with your comments.
R.P.
Re: Keep the bridge open
I guess you could say we’ve “built a bridge,” R.P.!
During the utility and road construction project for The Landing, I had ample time to observe what can happen when a major thoroughfare is detoured. While the northbound detour off Park Ave. was usually fine, sometimes (especially on rainy days) it was absolutely HORRIBLE, with cars backed up all the way onto Park itself. Fortunately, it really only impacted one business (Kenny’s Auto Rebuild) and didn’t dump traffic onto residential streets. I’m sure Coal Creek Parkway carries a lot more traffic than Park Ave, so it’s hard to comprehend the nightmare a detour would cause for commuters. However, the disruption to commuters should not be the primary concern; the residents and business owners in the affected areas are the ones who would really suffer. Not to mention the kids who walk to school.
And yes, R.P, I know that Cheryl Haskins lives just off Union, and I am indeed thinking of residents like her! 🙂
How can we deal with the funding issue? In the scheme of things, is $3 million going to kill us? I ask that question earnestly, because I don’t know the answer. Unlike with other public works projects (like The Landing parking garage), investing in a more expensive bridge isn’t going to result in increased sales tax revenue. Could we perhaps delay another less critical road project by a year and reallocate its funding? Have all the county and state funding options been exhausted?
Randy and Marcie, I’m sure glad *I* don’t have a make a decision on this thing! I’m sure you all will do the right thing, but wow, what a tough situation.
Don’t be too nice….
Perhaps we should take into consideration that the people affected by the detour arn’t nesessarly Renton residents.
Perhaps you could block certain roads for cars without a Renton resident sticker. IF you have a road that would be unsafe for general use as a detour, you could lock it down and allow only local access.
It’s not nice – but it’s not like Newcastle has made it’s roads any better for Renton comuters as well.
Re: Don’t be too nice….
Speaking from being a true citizen of Renton in the Highlands, the majority of the impact is Renton folks! The additional impact is the safety and well being of Renton’s elmentary school kids, getting to school saftely, and not in the cross hairs of commuters. I can not imagine citizens of Mercer Island, New Castle, Bellevue, or any other east side town accepting such terrible alternatives. The funds to allow access over the bridge must be found, or renogatiated with the contracter, or whoever “missed” this little detail!
Coal Creek Project- poor choice
Regarding the detour from Coal Creek Pkwy to Union, I have seen first hand the potential for a dangerous situation with children and drivers on Union….a mother of a student at Sierra Heights pass a school bus that had its red lights flashing and stop sign out. She barely missed my son!! I know this was not intentional and she is aware of her error but imaging the thousand plus more cars re-routed to Union daily! People with only thoughts of getting to or from work in a timely manner! Imagine the risk to our children from people who don’t normally take Union! Is the life of a child more important than the money? Lets not make this so by allowing such a gamble!!
Re: Coal Creek Project- poor choice
I think shutting down the bridge for that long WOULD cause traffic nightmares, however I think we’re hearing mostly from the people that live along the possible detour route, rather than people that commute on coal creek. Yes, living along that detour route for a while wouldn’t be fun, but I’d pity the people stuck in traffic on back roads more than the people living along the route. I’ve gone from having a road on just one side of my house to three sides! More traffic around your home is something that happens living in a developing city!
Re: Coal Creek Project- poor choice
Disneygirlkatie- I am alarmed of your cavalier attitude, which seems to discounts the 1000 of Renton Highland Residents, who depend on that roadway, every day. I can assure you these comments are not limited to those on the proposed detour route
The issue concerns 1000s of daily commuters, Renton citizens who live in the area, and the 100s of school kids who depend upon our leaders to ensure they get to school safely! The impact will be huge;
 Safe transport of our kids to school
 Quality of life (the horrific traffic is this goes forward)
Developing cities do not imitate activities that threaten the lives of kids, and create miserable living conditions by way of traffic. Developing cities work with the contactors to do what is fair, and originally promised.
Re: Coal Creek Project- poor choice
As one who lives along the route (and someone who posted above), I can tell you that I’m far less worried about the traffic impact on my own daily commute. I am willing to have Every Single Car rerouted as a result of the roadwork drive right past my home on Sunset, because that’s better than having them detoured through Sierra Heights. As someone who works with children AND someone who sees the way people drive whether or not there are children around, I am 100% concerned about the safety of the kids in those neighborhoods. Do I relish the idea of having to wait for over five minutes just to be able to make a left turn into my neighborhood? No. But the kid vs. car alternative is much less pretty.
Well, given that it’s expensive to widen the bridge, and that many commuters have SUVs (gas-guzzling SUVs, to be exact) that never actually get used for their intended purpose (that is, to be taken off-roading or used in difficult driving conditions), I think we should make the most of this large-vehicle trend. An idea somebody once suggested to me 😉 would be rather than actually paying to widen coal creek, we just add a “SUV lane” where the drivers can put their cars into 4-wheel drive, and go straight down the embankment and through the creek, then right up onto the side of the road…It’d be cheap…not so environmentally sound though…. Nevermind… =) Just kidding, promise.
Is there a misconception about this project? Newcastle’s project ends at 95th. According to their website, they will not be closing any streets or the bridge. The only street that will be closed is Duvall South of 95th in two different locations. My concern was the lack of notice to affected residences of the November 7, 2007 meeting; the lack of information from the City of Renton’s Transportation Department; and being told that the only other meeting was for the Department to go infront of the Council. How are we to get questions that were asked answered if the only other meeting is infront of the Council? Bear in mind that the City of Renton plans to advertise the project for bid the firest week of December. The incentives and cost over-runs appear to be on the City of Renton’s project lnly.
I think there are a few key points that may have been misinterpreted here (trust me — it took me a while to figure this out, too).
First off, the City of Newcastle and City of Renton projects are completely separate, though will complement each other when complete. If you look at the Coal Creek Parkway website (which, I might add is *very* nicely done), you will see that it just stops. That was one of my early concerns about that project — that it would just move the congestion to May Valley Road, and we’d still have morning and evening gridlock.
From what I understand, the reason why Renton is proposing closing the road for a year is because to not do so would cost approx. $3M – presumably because it will be more difficult for the contractor to do the work while maintaining access to the road (i.e. the need for extra flaggers, phasing construction, etc). The proposed detours will direct traffic around this road. From what it sounds like, nearly all of the opposition has been – quite understandably – against the Sierra Heights detour. In one of Randy’s more recent posts, staff indicate that they are already revisiting detours based on citizen comment.
The way I figure it, we still have a couple of months before any detour would happen, and before final detour routes are set. The main issue right now is the structure of the contract/scope of work that will go out for bid in December. I wouldn’t be surprised if the City asks bidders to provide alternatives — i.e. cost if Duvall is to remain open, and cost if Duvall is to close during construction. It would also be wise for staff to explore performance bonuses so we can get this project done soon.
I just hope Council waits ’til mid-December to discuss this, since I can’t make a meeting until then. 🙂
Great explanation, thanks. My take would be to work with the contractor to minimize as much as possible closure requirments, by way of incentives. However, if this is going to be a year long issue, then it becomes a safety and quality of life problem, and the council should consider funding the incremental cost. A year is a long time to wade through the anticiapted traffic horror show, if forced to go through alternative routes. Unlike the resurfacing project on 1-5 (just a month or so), we who are in the Highlands will be trapped, with few good choices to get on with our daily lives.
Police Annex Needed Now to Enforce and Protect Area around Duvall Closure
The safety and well being of commuters and residents in the impact zone of the Duvall Closure is the leverage we need to start considering placing a police annex in the strip mall located by Bank of America. Response times are low for Highlands residence and staffing an Annex would of course would be about 2 or 3 million dollars. Now that we saved the city that rough amount by closing Duvall, give it back in the form of Security for the impact zone. Propose and support a police annex. Thank you, Randy for all of your advocacy and support.