Photo courtesy City of Burien.

The City of Burien says on its website that “construction is now in full swing for the rest of the year,” specifically referirng to the First Ave South Improvement Project Phase II (SW 146th to SW 140th Street).

“DPK, contractor, has installed five large vaults for SCL and done some preparation work for one more large vault in the roadway by the car wash,” reads a post on the website. “They will be working on these next week (Jan. 9). Preparation work includes: potholing and sawcutting. After these, the work moves out of the road way a little to install several smaller vaults. In the next few weeks, trenching work will begin for duct bank installation.”

The city also adds this note:

The construction work zone corridor runs from SW 146th to SW 140th along 1st Avenue South.

In this corridor, the speed limit is now 30 MPH and slower in the immediate work zone area.

Fines are doubled for speeding in the work zone area. So please drive safely, respectfully, and responsibly.

For more project information, see the Project Website.

The City of Burien announced Tuesday (Oct. 11) that Seattle City Light has begun removing old wooden utility poles and aerial wires along 1st Ave South as part of Phase One of the 1st Ave South Improvement Project, which was substantially completed in 2009.

According to Seattle City Light, about 50 poles between S. 146th & S. 156th Streets that remained from the project will be taken down on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 14 & 15. Construction work on Phase 2 of the 1st Ave. S. improvement project is expected to begin in November.

A six-block segment of the road between S. 140th and S. 146th Streets will get new sidewalks on both sides, new pavement, new signals and street lighting, landscaping and undergrounding of overhead utilities.

Here’s more from the Project Description:

1st Avenue South Improvements-Phase 2 is scheduled to begin in early fall 2011 with an estimated final completion early 2013. The goals of the project are to improve vehicular and pedestrian mobility, safety and capacity within the corridor. The proposed roadway improvements include:

• Sidewalks on both sides of 1st Avenue South
• Undergrounding of overhead utilities
• Storm drainage improvements
• New pavement
• New signals and street lighting
• Landscaping

Coordination with local businesses, maintenance of business access, and maintenance of traffic during construction are important components to a successful project in order to protect business activity during the construction period. Businesses in the affected area WILL REMAIN OPEN, with customers and the general public having a convenient shopping experience while visiting the downtown area.

Project Manager: Brian Victor
Email: brianv@burienwa.gov

There will be a Ribbon-Cutting Celebration for the recently-completed First Avenue South Enhancement Project on Thursday, Nov. 18th at 6pm, in front of Archery Bistro, located at 19803 First Ave South in Normandy Park.

Prior to the ribbon cutting, there will be several short speeches from state and local officials involved with the project.

It’s no secret that this controversial construction project, funded by federal grant money, has caused numerous travel delays in the area, garnering frustration not only amongst commuters, but from business owners whose businesses have suffered because of it.

As many of our Readers and residents know, this project has been blamed for the lack of business at the Normandy Park Towne Center, including the shutting down of the Emerald City Smoothie store located there last March (read our coverage here), so the completion of it will be a welcome relief to the entire area.

In case of inclement weather, a tent will be erected to keep everyone in attendance dry so don’t let the weather keep you away.

The City of Burien Friday (Sept. 10th) issued a “Traffic Alert” for the intersection of SW 148th and 1st Ave South, due to landscaping work that will be done on the median strips beginning Monday, Sept. 13th and continuing to Friday, Sept. 17th.

The city says that the beautifying work will occur between 8am and 3:30pm, “to minimize delays during rush hour traffic.”

The city asks everyone to:

“Please watch for traffic revisions signs and slow down to keep our road crews safe.

You can also listen to Radio Free Burien AM 540 for more traffic alert and community information.”

So, you may want to find alternate routes if you’re planning on driving through Burien’s busiest, main intersection during the day on those days.

by Ralph Nichols

Seattle City Light customers in Burien have been billed for the undergrounding of electrical lines along 1st Ave. S. for some time now.

And they’ve been asking when – or if – they’ll see utility lines, including those of Qwest and Comcast, disappear from the poles that still line the street.

Finally, more than two years after phase one of the First Avenue South Improvement Project was scheduled to be completed, the undergrounding of these utility lines is about to get underway.

Burien Public Works Director Larry Blanchard told The B-Town Blog that the last stage of the delay-plagued project, is about to go to bid.

Bids for what he calls “phase one, part two” of the project should be advertised later this month and opened in August.

Blanchard expects the process of taking overhead wiring off power poles and placing it in underground conduits between about S/SW 156th and S/SW 146th streets will be completed by mid-March 2011.

“Because the nature of this work is not subject to normal weather conditions, we should be able to continue throughout winter,” he added.

The city’s project manager for the final part of phase one is Doug LaMothe, who was not involved with any of the work done earlier.

While phase one has not been “on time” for two years, the $26.2 million project is still “on budget,” Blanchard said.

Work on phase one of the First Avenue South Improvement Project, from S/SW 162nd St. to 146th, got under way in late summer 2006, with completion scheduled for spring 2008.

Frank Coluccio was the general contractor. Gary Long was then Burien’s city manager and Stephen Clarke the city public works director.

Neither Long nor Clarke is still with the city. Coluccio was removed from the project in 2009 for not meeting the construction schedule.

Coluccio responded with a lawsuit against the city, alleging that delays resulted from underground lines that weren’t mapped by the city and failure by the city to complete preparatory work on time.

That case is currently in court.

While extreme winter weather in late 2006 and 2007 did slow work for a few weeks, final paving didn’t begin until late summer 2008 – six months after the original target for completion.

By the time Coluccio was removed, street improvements had been completed, except for traffic signals and traffic lights. But the contractor had done no undergrounding – even though conduits and vaults for this were in place.

Since then, some undergrounding has been done between S/SW 162nd and S/SW 156th streets where businesses along 1st Ave. S. have brought their utility lines under ground and connections have been made.

“We’re working closely with Seattle City Light to make the conversion to underground,” Blanchard said. “Quest and Comcast already have done some undergrounding with the work that SCL did on the south end.”

About $1.5 million of the original funding for this project phase remains. He said that should cover the remaining work – all undergrounding, street lighting, traffic signals, and traffic signal coordination.

The city of Burien is holding an Open House for First Ave South Phase 2 Improvements on Monday, May 17th from 4:30pm – 7pm at the multipurpose room of city hall.

Objective of the open house is for city staff and project designers to meet with all persons interested in the future improvements of First Ave South between S/SW 148th Street and S/SW 140th Street.

Currently, the City has identified traffic and pedestrian safety deficiencies in this corridor that require correction, including:

• Inadequate pedestrian access
• Insufficient street lighting
• Inefficient surface water management features
• Older traffic signalization equipment

According to the city, traffic incidents for 1st Avenue South are among the highest in Burien.

Here are the details:

WHAT: Open House Meeting for First Avenue South Phase 2 Improvements.

WHEN: Monday, May 17th; Drop in anytime between 4:30 and 7:00 p.m.

WHERE: Burien City Hall, Multipurpose Room (1st Floor), 400 SW 152nd Street, Burien, Washington.

INFO: Refreshments will be served.

From a press release:

City of Burien Open House Meeting for 1st Avenue South Phase 2 Improvements (S/SW 146th to S/SW 140th Street)

DATE: Monday, May 17, 2010
Burien City Hall, Multipurpose Room (1st Floor)
400 SW 152nd Street, Burien, Washington

Drop in anytime between 4:30 and 7:00 p.m.

Refreshments

City staff and project designers would like to meet with all persons interested in the future improvements of 1st Avenue South between S/SW 148th Street and S/SW 140th Street. Currently, the City has identified traffic and pedestrian safety deficiencies in this corridor that require correction. Safety deficiencies include: inadequate pedestrian access, insufficient street lighting, inefficient surface water management features, and older traffic signalization equipment. Traffic incidents for 1st Avenue South are among the highest in Burien.

To resolve the described concerns, 1st Ave South within the stated corridor will be reconstructed to provide: a new hard surface, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, four travel lanes plus one continuous left-turn lane, and new stormwater management facilities. In addition, overhead utilities will be relocated to underground facilities and the streetscape will be improved with landscaping.

Phase 2 Improvements will provide a better identity to the downtown core area and should help revitalize our local economy. Please notify anyone you know who might be interested in this project. If you have any questions, or are unable to attend the meeting and would like more information on this project, please contact the Burien Public Works representative listed below.

Contact person:

Brian Victor, Capital Projects Engineer
City of Burien
Public Works Department
Phone: (206) 248-5533

The cityfolk tell us that construction on the westbound lanes of SW 148th Street between 1st Ave South and 2nd Ave SW will begin Monday, Nov. 30th, and will require three days of “dry weather” to complete.

Work is scheduled to take place between the hours of 8am and 5pm, so you might want to consider taking alternate routes.

According to a news release:

The City will be grinding and paving westbound lanes of SW 148th Street from 1st Avenue South to 2nd Ave Southwest beginning the week of Nov. 30.

This work should take three days of dry weather and it will affect several travel lanes.

Work will take place 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Motorists are advised to take different routes during construction time to avoid delays.

For information on this project, please contact Sam Basmeh at 206-439-3163.

[Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/teo/ / CC BY-SA 2.0]