Works begins in May on Sixth St. Signals

The intensity of construction will ramp up throughout the summer.

A project aimed at managing Sixth St. South’s increasing traffic flow with a pair of four-way traffic signals begins May 29.

Kirkland’s contractor, Johansen Construction, will be installing traffic signals at two of Sixth St. South’s intersections—one at Kirkland Way; the other at Ninth Ave. South.

At Kirkland Way, Johansen will also reconfigure the intersection to accommodate buses’ wide turning-radiuses and will reconstruct the intersection’s surface with concrete, which can withstand buses’ heavier-than-normal traffic loads. Work on the Kirkland Way intersection should last four to six months and will require a five-day closure of the intersection, as well as a detour around it.

Also in May, Kirkland’s street maintenance division is planning to repair a few of Sixth Street South’s most damaged sections of pavement. The city’s crews will patch a section in the southbound lane, starting at Sixth St. South’s intersection with the Cross Kirkland Corridor and continuing 1,000 feet to the south. In the northbound lane, workers will repair a 300-foot-long section on the south side of the Cross Kirkland Corridor intersection.

The city of Kirkland will not, however, be repairing the street’s surface between Northeast 68th St. and Fifth Ave. South. That section will be temporarily repaired in early 2019 by the water and sewer main upgrades project, which begins later this summer and concludes early in 2019.

Once Kirkland completes the water and sewer mains upgrades, it will repave Sixth St. South, from Northeast 68th St. to Central Way.

For more information, visit the Sixth Street Improvements webpage on the city’s website.