Tag Archives: roanoke

‘Major construction coming to your neighborhood’ — 520 Portage Bay Bridge and Roanoke Lid work includes big projects to move key utilities

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(Image: WSDOT)

When you think about building a bridge you probably think of things like pilings and cable stays — not wiring and underground utilities. The seven-year 520 Portage Bay Bridge and Roanoke Lid construction project continues this summer also includes lots of utility work, it turns out.

WSDOT is updating (PDF) neighbors in the areas around Roanoke Park and down along Boyer Ave E of “major construction coming to your neighborhood” —

As part of the SR 520 Portage Bay Bridge and Roanoke Lid Project, WSDOT and Skanska will work with the city of Seattle to relocate utilities in your area. For the next six months, you can expect crews to be working on Boyer Avenue East, in the Boyer hillside and along East Roanoke Street to complete this utility work.

The utilities in question are a big deal including moving a major 12-inch water main and a 26-kilovolt power line.

The work will mean major traffic detours and closures including the Boyer Stairs connecting Montlake to Interlaken Park and Capitol Hill. You can find the traffic and walking details here (PDF).

WSDOT says starting this fall, crews will begin work on the Boyer hillside for the new Portage Bay bridges and sections of the Roanoke Lid. Continue reading →

More private school growth on Capitol Hill as Bertschi plans three-story ‘New Schoolhouse’

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Bertschi’s existing campus (Image: Miller Hull)

The private Bertschi School on northern Capitol Hill is in planning for a campus renovation and addition of a new three-story schoolhouse as it continues to grow along 10th Ave E. Construction is still a few years off.

“We want our spaces to reflect the joyfulness of our kids,” head of school Raymond Yu tells CHS.

As a new school year begins, Seattle families in the public school system are awaiting a delayed roster of planned campus closures the district says are necessary to stem budget woes. In the meantime, there is a new $14.5 million plan focused on intervention, mental health, and “school-based safety specialists” to address concerns about increase gun violence among young perpetrators.

But, despite the worries around the budget challenges faced by the district, Seattle Public Schools is also investing in the area. With long-term projections show continued demand for  education in Central Seattle, SPS is overhauling and expanding its Montlake Elementary campus as a centerpiece in the system.

At Bertschi, the school, which opened as a single pre-kindergarten class in 1975 has grown to an enrollment of 244 students from pre-K through grade 5. School officials say the renovation is not driven by a plan to expand enrollment, though admit it will grow the student body by 22 students.

The renovations grew out of the school’s overall strategic plan with an eye toward new high-quality classrooms, said Yu. Continue reading →

$1.4B Portage Bay Bridge and Roanoke Lid Project moving forward with order to identify ‘cost reduction opportunities’

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Design concept for a new bridge over Portage Bay

An early rendering of the Roanoke Lid concept

Washington is moving forward with the 520 Portage Bay Bridge and Roanoke Lid Project even as it is still scrambling for the best way to pay for it.

WSDOT announced it awarded a contract for the job to Skanska on March 11th.

CHS reported in November on the $1.375 billion price proposal from Skanska for the contract — a bid 70% higher than the state’s estimate. An agreement with Skanska extended the window to accept the bid, giving Washington legislators “more time to address the funding gap” during its just-wrapped budget process, WSDOT says.

The new plan? Move forward with the $1.375 billion bid but find a way to cut costs and close the gap. WSDOT says legislators have ordered it to seek “cost reduction opportunities.” That could mean new, scaled back designs for the planned lid and new bridge. Continue reading →

WSDOT scrambling over $1.4B bid for 520 Portage Bay Bridge/Roanoke Lid project — 70% higher than expected

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(Image: CHS)

There is a new $1.4 billion price tag — and likely a new timeline — for the work on the westermost section of the 520 replacement project including a new Portage Bay Bridge and a lid connecting the Roanoke neighborhood over the highway.

State officials say the winning best bid from contractor Skanska is about 70% higher than what Washington State Department of Transportation planners were budgeting for and are now asking to extend expiration of the bid to give the legislature to somehow come up with extra hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for the project.

“With the support of the Governor’s office and transportation legislative leadership, we have begun negotiations with Skanska to extend their proposal validity through the end of the 2024 legislative session on March 7 (it was previously set to expire on Nov. 20, 2023),” WSDOT said in a statement on the bid. “We will continue to keep you updated once we have finalized a path forward.” Continue reading →

O Maki Rolls + Teriyaki joining North Capitol Hill cluster of food and drink around The Roanoke

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(Image: O Maki Rolls + Teriyaki)

Delivery and takeout friendly sushi rolls and teriyaki are joining a cluster of North Capitol Hill restaurants.

Plans for a “togo” version of Greenwood-born O Maki Rolls + Teriyaki are taking shape for the 10th Ave E space formerly home to the last Capitol Hill stand of Amante Pizza, the one-time E Olive Way joint notorious for its obnoxiously flashing signage. Continue reading →

Police: Medical emergency led to crash that killed man in street on 10th Ave E

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The King County Medical Examiner has identified the man killed after being hit by a driver along 10th Ave E last week.

Meanwhile, the early investigation of the deadly Wednesday morning incident includes details that a medical emergency is believed to have led to the 9:15 AM crash. Continue reading →

One struck and killed, driver to hospital in 10th Ave E crash

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The 10th Ave E crash scene (Image: CHS)

A person was struck by a driver and killed Wednesday morning along 10th Ave E near the E Newton intersection.

Seattle Fire medic crews and Seattle Police rushed to the scene around 9:15 AM and found a person struck and pinned in the northbound bike lane beneath the red sedan that slammed into a utility pole during the crash.

Crews began life saving measures on the person who was hit and the driver. The pedestrian died at the scene. The driver was transported to the hospital. Continue reading →

Now open on 10th Ave E: Gyro House

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Owner Akram Bouman Ali (Image: Lena Friedman)

Just before COVID-19 restrictions set in, Gyro House moved into a new 10th Ave E location bordering Capitol Hill. The Iraqi-style mediterranean restaurant is now adjusting to business in a new neighborhood and new coronavirus age of serving customers.

Owner Akram Bouman Ali arrived with his family in the United States as Iraqi refugees in 2009 and achieved his dream of starting a restaurant in 2018 when Gyro House opened at its first location on 5th Ave S between downtown and the International District.

“My dad always inspires me — he’s hard of hearing, he has a lot of health issues going on but he never gave up on his dream,” said his daughter Amal Bouman Ali, who helps manage the business. Continue reading →

Street Critic | A visit to Roanoke, an island of North Capitol Hill floating beyond 520

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Stay-in-place has had a tremendous impact on us all, forcing changes in routines that affect travel, employment, recreation, socialization, as well as physical and mental well-being. It does, however, offer us opportunities often overlooked as we tend to our normal lives. One of the best is taking a fresh look at the landscape around us and exploring overlooked places close to home. One such overlooked place for many of us who live on Capitol Hill includes the Roanoke neighborhood. Had Highway 520 not been built this neighborhood would be squarely within neighborhood consciousness.

Having recently walked (again and again) Pike/Pine, Broadway, Volunteer, and Cal Anderson Parks, as well as 12th, 15th, and 19th Avenues, it seemed a good time to head north and reacquaint myself with what lies just beyond 520. Continue reading →

15 years — and $8M or so extra — later, a look at North Capitol Hill’s new Station 22

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Faced with old facilities and the first signs of growth set to transform the city in Seattle’s tech-era boom, voters in 2003 approved the Fire Facilities and Emergency Response Levy and plan to rebuild 32 fire stations in neighborhoods across Seattle. A new Station 22 was forecast to cost $4.85 million under estimated construction costs at the time. 15 years later, the state of the art E Roanoke station hosted neighbors for a Saturday open house and peace pole planting.

Station 22’s final price tag? More than $13 million.

Completed late last year and back in operation since December, the new station Saturday showcased its larger, environmentally friendly facility for neighbors and fire truck aficionados.

The new Station 22 has more than doubled the space of the original, expanding the 1964-built structure from about 4,000 square feet to 10,000 square feet. The two-story station designed by Weinstein A/U has a concrete hose tower, and a brick and glass façade and is designed to be eco-friendly, with a LEED gold certification, including solar panels, an underground stormwater cistern which will provide 100% of the station’s non-drinking water needs, permeable pavers in public areas, and a host of other sustainable features. Continue reading →