Seattle Hill Road problem could linger for weeks

Published 5:33 pm Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Flood waters are receding and washed out roads are re-emerging all over Snohomish County, but one-flood related problem isn’t going away anytime soon.

It will cost up to $5 million and take four weeks or longer to repair damage to the Seattle Hill Road, a major thoroughfare that typically sees 9,000 vehicles per day, said Janice Fahning, a state Department of Transportation engineer.

It’s the highest priority in the north Puget Sound region to fix this roadway, Fahning said. The region includes Snohomish, King, Skagit and Whatcom counties.

One of the trouble spots throughout Tuesday opened just after 5 p.m. One lane of eastbound Highway 522 was closed until emergency repairs were made.

Residents of the far eastern reaches of Snohomish County also may have trouble getting home tonight. Highway 203 just south of Duvall has one lane of alternating traffic because of a mudslide, Bogenschutz said.

“We’ve got crews out there working on it now,” she said. “Crews will stop work after sundown, but flaggers will remain overnight and into tomorrow. Crews will return tomorrow with more materials to finish repairs.”

Fahning said the soil under Seattle Hill Road collapsed after water begin to backup behind the road and overwhelm the capacity of the 18-inch in diameter culvert.

“The roadway is undermined to (its) centerline,” she said. “The asphalt is just suspended across a 25-foot deep void below the road.”

The state is working to get environmental permits to make the repairs and is trying to get materials on site. Fahning said a contractor could start work early next week.

While this roadway is closed, drivers can use Cathcart Way and Lowell-Larimer Road for a detour, she said. People who live in the area can get to their property on both sides of the closure.

No one is allowed at the site, she said. Concrete barriers are being put in place to keep vehicles out. There also will be state workers on site around the clock to keep people away.

Sounder commuter rail service won’t resume between Everett and Seattle until Thursday at the earliest, said Linda Robson, a spokeswoman for Sound Transit.

“There was a new mudslide (Monday), which started that 48-hour clock over again,” Robson said.

Railroad rules require that all passenger rail service be halted until two days after a mudslide, she said. The hope was to resume service Wednesday morning, two days after a mudslide washed over the tracks on Sunday.

Sections of more than 30 lesser used roads are closed in unincorporated Snohomish County, and the county still hadn’t fixed all the damage caused by last year’s storms when Monday’s rain and weekend snow swept through the region.

“It gave us more work to do,” said Jack Lemke, a lead worker for Snohomish County Public Works.

North of Index, county road crews were working Tuesday to clear a clogged drainage pipe on the Index-Galena Road.

Water backed up and was rushing across the rural road, which was badly damaged during last year’s floods.

Maple Road at Ash Way was the only remaining flood-closure in Lynnwood on Tuesday, Lynnwood Fire spokeswoman Marybeth O’Leary said. More than a dozen roads were closed Monday.

Roads were reopened in Mountlake Terrace and a public work crew was out assessing if the flood waters caused any lasting damage. Eight roads were shut down on Monday, including 220th Street SW, a major thoroughfare through the city. There didn’t appear to be any major problems.

Edmonds officials closed a stretch of Olympic View Drive just west of 76th Avenue W, Edmonds Public Works director Noel Miller said.

Flood waters ate away an embankment that holds up the road, he said.

A portion of 76th Avenue W. just west of Olympic View also needs repairs, Miller said.

He plans to ask the Edmonds City Council for up to $1 million to fix the roads, he said. The repairs could take up to a month.

Mudslides shut North Meadowdale Road east of 75th Avenue W, and 104th Avenue W, two blocks north of the county line between Firdale and Woodway. Those streets could be opened by the end of the week, he said.

Crews aren’t sure when they can reopen 190th Street SW between Olympic View Drive and 94th Ave W, he said.