Construction will last through the end of the year, and during this time, Sylvester Road SW will be closed near the bridge with traffic rerouted along a signed detour route.

The overall budget is $3.3 million, and the City of Normandy Park received a federal grant to replace the Sylvester Road Bridge with a new bridge in 2011. The King County Department of Transportation Road Services Division is managing this project for the City.

Construction updates are available at www.kingcounty.gov/SylvesterRoadBridge

The on-ramp is being demolished and replaced by one that will connect northbound Highway 99 to South Royal Brougham Way. WSDOT is hoping to finish work by April 1st, with a new ramp installed by the time baseball season begins.

The viaduct has served as an efficient means of transportation and an eyesore, as well as a source of some of the best city views in the northwest since it first opened on April 4, 1953. Carrying up to 110,000 vehicles per day, the structure was damaged in the 2001 Nisqually earthquake, and is proposed to be replaced by an underground tunnel.

Photographer Francis Zera was on the scene, and he shot the following Sound Slideshow – make sure your speakers are on so you can hear the melodious sounds of the powerful, viaduct-eating excavator:

Click to Play Francis Zera’s Sound Slideshow

If you’ve suffered property damage from the recent rainstorms, flooding and/or landslides, the King County Department of Assessments wants you to know how you can get help.

“In light of the recent rainfall over the past weekend throughout King County – I wanted to forward along information on how to seek assistance for destroyed and damaged property for residents in the City of Burien,” said Communication and Outreach Coordinator Phillip Sit in an email.

If you’ve suffered any weather-related damage, you are asked to please contact the Department of Assessments at 206.296.7300.

If you own property in King County and wish to file a Destroyed Property claim, please fill out the King County Destroyed Property Form (.PDF).

Click here for additional information regarding property tax relief available to flood and storm victims.

For more information, check out the department’s website: http://www.kingcounty.gov/Assessor.aspx.

Sometime within the last 24 hours, vandals apparently drove a racing green Mini Cooper onto Burien’s Interim Art Space area, hooked a tow line up and pulled over the “Mother” portion of “The Passage,” which was unveiled on January 24th.

Here’s an exclusive photo, taken by Contributing Photographer Francisco Beigh around 3:45pm Wednesday, April 1st:

Photo courtesy Francisco Beigh.

“To tell you the truth,” said Officer Brent Calvin, “nobody noticed anything different about this place until some dude with artsy glasses and a girly ponytail starting screaming like he was having a seizure around 15:30 hours. He called 911 on his cute red iPhone, so now we’re stuck here investigating. And I was just about to head down to The Tin Room for happy hour. Sheesh.”

Burien Police and King County Sheriff’s investigators are on the scene now, and are warning curious residents to avoid the area, as there are shards of artistic asphalt and metal everywhere, as well as brightly colored sculptures and paintings that could harm the retinas of citizens used to the normal drab scenery of Burien.

The suspect Mini Cooper was last seen at the drive-through of the neighboring Burger King, where the older male driver ordered a BK Kid’s Meal cheeseburger with ketchup only, apple fries and a small chocolate shake, then sped off towards Des Moines. According to the manager, they may return to retrieve a forgotten toy, which this week is from the hot new 3-D movie “Aliens vs Monsters.” A Port of Seattle S.W.A.T. team is now staking out the fast-food restaurant.

If you’ve seen a green Mini Cooper with a white roof, driven by an older white male with a sated young male with blond hair in the back seat scrambling around looking for a missing toy, you are encouraged to call police immediately.

According to local artist I.I. Dinka Hefeweizensen, who is the new director of the B-Town Interactive Artists Coalition House (aka B-IACH):

“Rather than re-build this sculpture, we’re going to leave it as is and just re-name it ‘What Happened to My Mama?’”

This story is developing, and rest assured we will post continuing-exclusive updates as soon as they come in, whether you like it or not.

According to the King County website:

A new expanded transit center now under construction in Burien will provide bus riders with better connections, improved security, and faster travel times for buses.

“This project is a model of how we can make it possible for residents to live and work in walkable, transit-rich communities,” said King County Executive Ron Sims. “Metro Transit partnered with the city of Burien on the design of this transit center to make sure it was consistent with the city’s vision for its downtown core, and to make Burien better prepared to weather impacts when construction begins on the Alaskan Way viaduct.”

Construction of the new Burien Transit Center begins this week. It is located at 4th Avenue Southwest and Southwest 150th Street, the site of the current transit center and Burien Park-and-Ride.

When completed in 2009, the new transit center will have a passenger platform that can accommodate eight buses, and up to eight on-site layover spaces for buses. The buses will load and unload at the off-street bays rather than at the curb on 4th Avenue Southwest as they do now, and passengers will be able to transfer between routes without crossing a busy street. The new transit center will also have a loading platform for paratransit passengers, who will be able to transfer between paratransit vans and Metro’s regular routes at this facility.

The bus layover spaces will reduce the time required for buses to travel to and from the transit center, lowering costs, and improving service. It is expected to speed up bus travel times by five minutes or more per trip.

Other amenities at the transit center include new passenger shelters, benches, security cameras, and improved lighting. It is being built in partnership with the Federal Transit Administration and Burien.

During construction, up to 125 parking spaces in the existing park-and-ride lot will be closed. The reduction in spaces will be phased, and most will not close until early August. Alternate parking is available at the 87 spaces in the city’s nearby municipal lot, or use one of six other local park-and-ride lots.

So…goodbye sports bar, hello buses.

No word yet on whether they’ll have special Catalytic Converter Rip-Off Parking Area or not.