City delays Park Street Roundabout project, instead will fix NE 12th Street this summer

North Bend will be doing a flip-flop of two big road construction projects this summer – and the decision may leave many residents smiling.

The Park Street Roundabout (RAB) project – estimated to start this June – will be pushed back to the summer of 2019 due to some delays with the WSDOT review process required by the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) grant that is funding the project.

WSDOT is prioritizing projects from other cities whose PSRC grants funded earlier than North Bend’s. The Park Street RAB grant funds next month, with North Bend having two years to complete the project.

According to North Bend Public Works Director Mark Rigos, WSDOT prefers the roundabout be built the summer of 2019, as North Bend has a longer period in which to use its grant funds compared to some projects WSDOT is currently trying to review.

Rigos said WSDOT could still have the Park Street RAB reviewed later this summer, but that means the 4-month project couldn’t begin construction until August or September, pushing it into the rainy season.

The project is also fairly complicated due to traffic phasing required along busy North Bend Way, which could be compounded by development projects – Orchard Avenue Apartment Complex, Phoenix Plaza, and Cade Vue townhomes – currently, or soon-to-be, happening near the project site.

So…the city has decided delay construction of the  Park Street RAB until 2019 and pursue a different project this summer: the NE 12th Street Re-construction Project.

This is a city funded project, and also the highest ranked project in the city’s Transportation Improvement Plan. NE 12th also happens to be one of the most complained-about roads in North Bend thanks to its dips, holes and bumps. According to Rigos, road settlement over the past two years has made NE 12th Street an increasing public safety concern.

The project will re-construct and widen the deteriorating half-mile section of NE 12th Street between Ballarat Ave and Pickett Ave. It will also replace an aging watermain and two old flood culverts underneath the roadway.

The city plans to advertise the project for construction during the next six weeks, with the work expected to take about two months. Rigos said the project is far less complicated than the Park Street Roundabout and can be finished before the fall rain arrives.

Section of NE 12 Street (also called SE 108th Street by King County) that will be reconstructed summer 2018

 

Park Street Roundabout will be constructed Summer 2019

 

 

 

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Comments

  • I’m glad they are going to re-prioritize 12th Street, and I still look forward to the roundabout at Park Street by QFC. That will help with some of the traffic woes on that stretch of road–it’s always a crazy time trying to get out of QFC to go east.

  • Thank the gods they are finally fixing this! I frequently lose my rabid roosters and decrepit cream cheese whilst driving this stretch of road. Bagel!

  • I get why they are doing this but I really, really want that roundabout and the median planned with it.

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