Drivers along 35th Avenue SE who noticed a dip in the road will not have to deal with it much longer. They also won’t be able to use the road for about a week.
Snohomish County Public Works will close 35th Avenue SE between 144th and 136th streets SE starting at 7 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 29 and continuing until approximately 5 p.m. Oct. 6.
The closure is being done so county construction crews can repair roadway settlement and replace a culvert over Penny Creek.
35th Avenue SE was showing signs of subsidence shortly after the county finished rebuilding and widening the road. Small, circular depressions near the southbound median began appearing last winter. By spring the depressions began causing noticeable dips for drivers going southbound on 35th.
The road is built atop a large peat bog in the area crews will be repairing. The county built the road atop the bog, shoring it up with small wood pellets, some sawdust and gravel. The bog itself drops about 25 feet or so in places, but crews put the wood pellets and gravel within the top six feet during reconstruction last year.
The area around the Penny Creek culvert is where the peat is deepest. The area, which borders a small wetland, is prone to shifts in the water table, said Bill Ryan, a county construction supervisor who has monitored the 35th Avenue SE situation.
Even though a center turn lane and bicycle lanes were added to 35th when the road was reworked in 2003, the road, a main north-south arterial for the Mill Creek area, will be closed to all traffic.
Detours will be posted.
The road lies within unincorporated Snohomish County.
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