Water main construction begins next week on Kirkland’s 85th Street

Kirkland’s 85th Street contractor is preparing the corridor this week for its next component of construction: installation of a 24-inch water main, which will run from the west side of the I-405 overpass to 132nd Avenue Northeast.

By Christian Knight, city of Kirkland • August 27, 2014 8:41 am
City of Kirkland
City of Kirkland

Kirkland’s 85th Street contractor is preparing the corridor this week for its next component of construction: installation of a 24-inch water main, which will run from the west side of the I-405 overpass to 132nd Avenue Northeast.

Johansen Excavating has already placed the construction barrels along Northeast 85th Street and expects construction to begin early next week on the west side of I-405. The contractor expects to reach 132nd Avenue Northeast by February.

To accomplish this, Johansen Excavating’s crews will be installing the water main from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., Monday through Thursday. During those hours, Johansen Excavating will close Northeast 85th Street’s three center lanes within the work zone.

Johansen’s crews will be working on other project work related tasks from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.  In general, all five lanes of Northeast 85th Street, however, should be open to traffic during the hours of 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

By the time Johansen’s work crews are nearing 132nd Avenue Northeast in February, the contractor will also be working on the next component of the Northeast 85th Street Corridor Improvements: rebuilding the corridor’s stormwater network of storm drains and stormwater vaults.

That network will include three Filterra Bioretention Systems—low-impact technology that capitalizes on Earth’s original method of cleaning stormwater: trees. These systems can capture and remove many of the pollutants stormwater would otherwise transport into Lake Washington.

Installation of street lights and upgrades to traffic signals will follow the stormwater improvements. Construction of the sidewalks, curbs, gutters, retaining walls and landscaping follows with the last phase of the corridor improvements project being most visible: repaving the street, from the I-405 overpass to 132nd Avenue Northeast. That phase should be done by end of 2015.

For more information on the Northeast 85th Street Corridor Improvements, visit the project website or contact Christian Knight, Neighborhood Services Coordinator, (425) 587-3831, cknight@kirklandwa.gov.