Whenever Robin Washington, a project manager with Clark County Public Works, is asked why the improvements on Northeast 119th Street are taking so long to build, she likens it to another large undertaking.
“I ask people, ‘How do you eat an elephant?’” she said. “One bite at a time.”
Now the county is finishing one bite and is starting on another as it continues its multiyear project to upgrade Northeast 119th Street from a two-lane country road with no sidewalks or bicycle lanes to an arterial intended to accommodate growing suburbanization.
Washington said that McDonald Excavating, a Washougal-based contractor, is wrapping up work on a stretch of Northeast 119th Street between Northeast 50th Avenue and Northeast 72nd Avenue. Work between 72nd and Northeast 87th Avenue was completed last year, and now contractor Rotschy is launching a project from 87th to Northeast 112th Avenue. The county awarded the Vancouver-based company an $11.18 million contract, according to a news release.
Clearing the way
Washington said that crews will be out clearing the roadsides and cutting trees in anticipation of upgrades. She also said that utilities will also have to clear pipes and poles that are in the way. She said the project will last two seasons and expects it to be finished in late 2019, according to a county news release.
According to the news release, more than $50 million will be spent on the corridor. The county has been awarded two grants to help pay for construction: a $4 million state Urban Arterial Program grant through the Washington State Transportation Improvement Board and a $3.1 million federal Surface Transportation Program grant through the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council.
Washington explained that the project has been broken into chunks because of the order in which permits are approved and projects funded.
“You can’t do it all in one long stretch,” she said. “It doesn’t work very well.”
The upcoming construction will widen and improve the current road to a four-lane arterial with two lanes in each direction, as well as a center turn lane, a bike lane, sidewalks and facilities to collect and treat polluted stormwater runoff, according to a county news release.
Additionally, the project will make upgrades to Clark Public Utilities’ water lines and Clark Regional Wastewater District’s sewer lines, as well as improve the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad crossing west of Northeast 102nd Avenue, according to the release.
The speed limit in the construction zone will be reduced to 25 mph during construction for the safety of workers and drivers, according to the release. Fines will be doubled for speeding and other infractions in the construction zone.
A short section of the street will be closed for up to 14 days during construction. Citing the high number of school buses that use the road, Washington said that the closures are expected to occur before classes resume.
“That’s why it’s planned for August,” she said. “We want it done before those buses start running.”
Not everyone is happy about how long the construction is taking. Bill Zimmerman, the co-owner of Bi-Zi Farms, said that while the upgrades will improve the road, all the construction has negatively affected his retail farm, which he described as being “right smack dab in the middle” of the construction.
“Well, to be honest with you, it’s put all of our plans for the farm on hold now,” he said. He said he’s held off on purchasing any new machinery or taking on any debt out of fear that the construction will further affect his business.
