Starting in February, a massive project to repave I-5 from Boeing to the Snohomish county line will cause lane closures and, for those of you lucky enough to live within earshot of the freeway in I-5 Shores and beyond, some noisy nights through the summer. WSDOT doesn’t yet know exactly when the work will happen in the Capitol Hill area — they will in two weeks, they say — but be ready for the noise and vibration required to replace the 40-year-old pavement. From an e-mail from WSDOT spokesperson Greg Phipps:
In addition to traffic delays, we also expect that construction noise and vibration will affect those living and working within 500 feet of the freeway, particularly at night when people are trying to sleep. Although we are taking steps to minimize noise where we can, much of it is unavoidable. We have a noise variance from the city of Seattle for night work and will be delivering flyers to everyone within 500 feet of the freeway. Since we are aware of the effect this will have on those near the freeway, we want to give these folks advance notice and to give them a sense of when and where the work will occur and what they can expect to hear and feel.
Here’s the latest status update on the project:
I’m really excited about both that and the Dump Truck Rally on olive and denny.
Either I’m really excited or thinking of moving off of the hill, one of the two.
Wow, noise, the coming Dump Truck Rally (thanks for the name Brant! so perfect!), and my rent just went up $100. Hmm…what to do with all this Cap Hill excitement!!
Thank you, god. The troughs caused by studded tires and the buckling segments of concrete past Northgate have been problems for a decade at least. I’d love to know how many accidents have happened from standing water in the ruts and someone losing control when going over a massive pothole. I’ll put up with the noise and inconvenience for actually maintaining the county infrastructure. Suck it up, whiners.
I don’t think they should have an OVERNIGHT noise variance when there are 1000s of people sleeping (or “trying to sleep” as Mr. WSDOT puts it) just feet away. For the rest of the project fine, but shouldn’t they have taken the density into account for the few miles through downtown? (Sorry EmilyP, you are probably a sound sleeper!)
Hello,
This is Greg Phipps from WSDOT. Just wanted to clarify few things.
1) Most of the work will be pavement grinding, rather than repaving. Pavement grinding is sort of like sanding smooth an old hardwood floor. The grinding machine removes about a half inch off the top of the pavement to get rid of the bumps and ruts on the freeway and improve traction.
2) Repaving will be limited to about 440 12′ by 15′ concrete panels. This is a very small fraction of the total freeway surface between South Seattle and Shoreline.
3) Most locations will be affected by noise for one to two weeks. Capitol Hill will be partially shielded by Freeway Park/Convention Center lid, though there are many locations that don’t have that protection. Also, much of the work near Capitol Hill will be in the express lanes, which are partially covered as well.
4) Working at night keeps the number of weekend daytime closures down and means we won’t have to close freeway lanes on weekdays. It is a tradeoff, though, and we ask for your patience while we complete the work. We are providing earplugs upon request (send me an e-mail if you want them) and doing whatever is feasible to minimize the noise coming from the work zone. Finally, we are working early in the year in the hopes of completing the project before the weather warms up.
Thanks,
Greg Phipps
Just realized that my e-mail was not displayed in my last message. It’s [email protected]. You can also call me at 206-464-1265.
So I live in the Olive Tower, and these dudes are literally underneath my window. They are probably 30 feet away from people on the first floor. The only reason I have a clue of what is going on is because of my dear iPhone. Where the hell did my notice for this bs go? Now my 14 hour day is going to be MUCH longer.