A portion of the city’s crucial ADA Transition Plan Implementation project is nearly underway.
Over the next two months or so, construction will be occurring in a host of locations in the Mercer Island Town Center area as part of the project.
According to MI transportation engineer Rebecca O’Sullivan, the project will feature sidewalk work to upgrade the city’s current existing curb ramps to meet Americans With Disabilities Act compliance.
City contractor NPM Construction was slated to mobilize on site this week and commence work at 11 street corners to install detectable warning surfaces at the bottom of the ramps and more to increase accessibility in Town Center. As part of the new ADA guidelines, the surfaces indicate if someone is traveling in or out of the roadway, O’Sullivan said.
The four intersections where construction will transpire are: 76th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 27th Street, 77th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 27th Street, 78th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 27th Street, and 78th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 28th Street.
A city report maps out the scenario of what is expected during construction — from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday — including single-lane closures and some delays near the intersections. Customers will be able to access businesses while the work is happening.
O’Sullivan noted that this element of the overall project is on target and they aim to likely wrap up the work in early November. The estimated budget of the current tasks rolls in at $404,000, which includes the entire gamut of the job from design to construction.
“We did want to focus in Town Center since in the next couple years we’ll have the light rail opening up. And it really is kind of our busiest, heaviest volume area for Mercer Island,” said O’Sullivan, who has worked in the city realm for nearly a year. “Then annually from here, we’re aiming to do multiple locations at a time, kind of spreading out from Town Center.”
Mercer Island City Council adopted the project as part of the city’s six-year rolling Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). O’Sullivan said the city has incorporated ADA upgrades into its other sidewalks projects and often into its roadway overlay projects.
“This project is our first one that is specifically kind of implementing our ADA transition plan,” she said.
To set the stage for NPM Construction’s arrival on the scene, the city engaged in preliminary investigative work, such as measuring existing curb ramp slopes to pinpoint the 11 locations that needed to meet specific ADA criteria and guidelines.
“I’m very excited that we’re taking the step and moving forward and implementing our ADA Transition Plan. I feel like there’s one part that’s always exciting to get the plan ready to go, but then actually implementing it is a whole other level,” said O’Sullivan, adding that city projects entail a community partnership such as public hearings.
Mercer Island’s website informs the public that workers will coordinate traffic control with neighboring projects, including the Sound Transit signal at 80th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 27th Street, 80th Avenue Southeast Sidewalk Improvements and the 2024 Arterial Preservation Program.
For more information, visit: https://tinyurl.com/ywpcxzj6
