Sponsored by Committee for A Better Avondale, your neighbors and friends organizing together to create a safer and healthier community

In case you missed the article today, the Seattle Times ran a story in today’s paper (front page of the NW News) on quiet pavement.  The focus was on what kind of testing they are doing and why the tests are failing. Thanks to information provided by Megan DeSantis & Walter Scott, we believe the story provided a balanced perspective noting the success in other locations.    http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010947187_quietpavement01m.html

King County Department of Transportation is in the process of awarding the Next Generation Grinding contract to Penhall Company for application on the test patch.  This process involves the Contractor providing the required insurance and bonding along with the actual signing of the contract.  This process can take as long as six weeks but four is the norm.  Once this is done the county will meet with the Contractor and work out the schedule for the project. The county is estimating early April to be the earliest time work will begin on Avondale.  

The Avondale radar speed sign heading northbound at NE 143 Place is going to be moved in early 2010. The solar panel has not been working on a continual basis due to tree cover blocking the solar panel. 

The new location recommended by the county will be approximately 90′ north of NE 144 PL (Brookside Meadows). This location takes advantage of the tree clearance issue since the Bonneville Transmission lines pass over the area. The county must keep a minimum of 10′ clearance from the edge line since the radar speed sign is a potential hazard to vehicle occupants if struck. The location must be reviewed by the utility companies to determine if any overhead or underground conflicts are in the right of way.  The county has also determined the new location should not pose a clearance issue for Metro buses in the event the coach operator leaves the roadway to pick up or drop off passengers.

The advance side road warning sign for NE 146 ST will be relocated to a spot where it does not fall in the viewing area of the radar speed sign.

We have been informed by the County that grinding on the test segment of Avondale, south of 151st Street, is expected to take place by March 2010.

The panel repairs and replacement on that segment were completed last fall, but grinding was postponed when a new grinding contractor needed to be secured.  The grinding contract is expected to be advertised on December 17^th and the bids will open January 5^th.  The County estimates that it will take 2 possibly 3 months from the opening of the bids to starting work on Avondale. 

Meanwhile, the County maintenance department has completed an asphalt patch on a short segment north of 151st Street to repair 2 severely damaged panels which were causing a significant safety and noise problem.

King County Department of Transportation has begun the work on the test patch between NE 144th and NE 151st St.  They are currently working on the northbound lane (causing a temporary shut down of the lane) and will begin work on the southbound lane approximately Wednesday.  The work on each lane involves removing damaged panels, digging down about one foot, adding new foundation material (gravel), compacting the gravel, then testing for proper compaction, before doing a “hot pour” to re-pave where needed.  They are using “hot pour” because it cures faster and the road can be re-opened as soon as possible.  After the panel repair, the road will be grinded using the Next Generation Grinding technique. 

The grinded surface is expected to be smoother, quieter and safer.  Noise measurements will be taken and analyzed after the project.  At that time, decisions will be made about how to repair (re- surface) the remaining sections of old Avondale road.  The feasibility of grinding vs. resurfacing with Asphalt Rubber will be studied. 

By the way, for those curious, there was a delay in starting the project because of other road closures in the area (which could impact Avondale traffic) and the beginning of school.  Our thanks to King County for the many hours of assistance in getting us to this point… and in advance for their support and help until we resurface at least 1-1/2 mile on Avondale!!

On July 22, People for a Better Avondale had a meeting with KCDOT (Rick Brater and Linda Dougherty)  about going back to the drawing board on AR vs grinding.  Doug Carlson of the Rubber Pavement Association and George Way a retired engineer from ADOT both from AZ were also in attendance via conference phone.   

Doug and George who came out in June and met with Megan to study Avondale stated many reasons AR was a good solution for Avondale and explained that the mistakes on 520 have been studied and could be corrected on future applications. In fact, they are being corrected on the I-405 test patch next month. They also stated the cost benefits.  The County is not 100% convinced that an AR overlay on Avondale would work despite success stories that Arizona has had on similar projects. Now we wait for their decision. King County is still scheduled to start panel replacement work in August.  

Studded tires remain a big concern.  

Congratulations, Transportation Department

The Washington State Traffic Safety Commission awarded the Transportation Department a $90,000 grant to install flashing school zone beacons at Cottage Lake, Bear Creek, Woodmoor, East Ridge, Sunrise, Wellington, and Hollywood Hill.

A major factor involving speeding in school zones is driver unawareness; by installing flashing beacons at the identified sites, student safety will be greatly increased.

After forwarding to King County all comments posted on the web and received via email on the 7 Alternatives for site selection of the test patch on Avondale, the county has decided to go with option 3 which is “Grind approximately 1250 LF of Avondale Road from NE 146th Way to NE 151st Street using Next Generation Grinding Technology.” 
 
The proposed schedule set up by King County is as follows: 
1. Site Selection by May 4 
2. Plans, specifications and engineering by May 30th 
3. Advertise in June and award by end of July. 
4. Construction beginning around 10th of August. 
5. Construction Time: 10 to 20 days with single lane closures during construction hours. 
6. Complete on site work prior to Labor Day weekend and start of school. 
 

Pilot Project Site Selection Underway

We have been informed by King County that asphalt rubber is currently “off the table” as a re-surfacing option on Avondale because the test patch on 520 has rutting problems that must be studied.  (It may have been a problem in the application due to lack of experience with the product.)  As an alternative, the County has proposed that the money budgeted for the Avondale Pilot Project in 2009 approximately $300K) be used for grinding, which will produce a smoother and quieter surface.  The money in the budget is only enough to do a test section and it will inlclude a noise study, with measurements and feedback from residents.  After doing an evaluation of the road and condition of the panels, the County has selected a couple of possible test locations and seeks our input.

The options include using a new type of grinding called Next Generation which may be 3 decibles quieter than traditional grinding.  The downside of Next Generation is that it costs more than conventional grinding so the test segment will be shorter.  We were told that they cannot do the test on sections of the road which have panels that must be replaced.  Therefore, some of the worst sections of the road are not a candidate for the test.  The locations selected by the County are set forth in the information below prepared by Rick Brater of King County Roads Engineering (which includes an excellent and informative power point presentation).

In a follow-up phone conversation with Rick, he indicated that they are looking forward to an opportunity to study the effectiveness of Next Generation grinding but will go with our preference.  Also, due to the severe budget shortages, there is nothing (so far) in future budgets for grinding or re-surfacing.  The County hopes that grinding may profide sufficient noise mitigation, but if Avondale is eventually re-surfaced, the grinding would prepare the service for paving so it is not a “thow away” (per Linda Doughterty, King County Road Director).  Please feel free to post your comments to the website or submit them to quieteravondale@gmail.com.

Note: We sent this information out via email a couple of days ago as well and have received some comments already.  We will forward all comments to King County for consideration in the final site selection.  Please submit your comments, if desired, as soon as possible, but no later than 4/30/09 5/4/09.

Thank you for your continued involvement in support of Avondale road improvements! It is important as we continue to work for additional grinding and/or re-surfacing, and the funding to accomplish it.

4/20 Email |Information from Rick Brater of King County Roads Engineering

Everyone

In regard to the pilot project for Avondale Road, we have put together some information in the table below and in the attached Power Point document on the different alternatives for grinding a portion of Avondale Road.   As we looked into and learned more about the “Next Generation Grinding” we found out a few things.  First, the Next Generation Grinding costs about twice as much per linier foot as the conventional grinding, and second we are told it will reduce the noise approximately 3 decibles more than the conventional grinding.

In regard to where to do the grinding, we have looked and found three general locations where minimal panel replacement will have to be done.  The potential locations are:

• Between NE 143rd St. and NE 151st Street
• Centered around NE 165th Street
• Between NE 159th St. south to Bear Creed Rd.

Given this information, we have put together seven alternatives.  The alternatives include conventional grinding (Alternatives 1, 4 and 6) and the Next Generation Grinding (Alternatives 2,3,5 and 7).  So the choices are which type of grinding would you like to try and what would be your preferred location to perform the work?  Or rephrasing the question, which alternative would you like to try?

Avondale Road Northeast Grinding Alternatives

The good news is that the reduction in car speed will make Avondale safer – unfortunately we also need to get drivers to pay attention to the “Do Not Pass” signs.   PLEASE be careful when driving on Avondale especially when people are stopped to turn into the neighborhods.  Here is an recent example of the devestating consequences when people are in just a little too much of a hurry.

We recently had a serious accident on Avondale – that should be a reminder to us all!http://www.kirotv.com/news/18967842/detail.html

Click to view a Picture of the Accident http://abetteravondale.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/2009_march-265.jpg