Seattle Department of Transportation has finished major construction on the two-mile stretch of N/NW 85th Street from 15th Avenue NW in Ballard to I-5, and on Greenwood Avenue North between North 85th Street and North 73rd Street.
In less than a year, road crews laid down 203,946 square feet of concrete roadway, more than 7,234 tons of final asphalt pavement, installed 232 new ADA-accessible curb ramps, 68,080 square feet of sidewalk, and more than 100 new stormwater features such as drainage facilities and catch basins.
But crews are still doing some wrap-up work here and there.
A PhinneyWood reader emailed us yesterday to ask why crews were out jackhammering at Greenwood and 83rd yesterday. Here’s what SDOT told me:
They were adjusting a utility casting that was a little low and needed to be brought up to the roadway height. While the 85th Paving Project is mostly complete, there is a substantial amount of wrap up work that will happen this fall to button up all the loose ends. It is pretty typical to have wrap up work after major construction is complete.
It is a really nice improvement. If anyone involved reads this: Thanks!
Love 85th, you can fly dow it now!
I appreciate the improvements, glad it’s wrapped, and yet SO CURIOUS why the paving was left as a patchwork of concrete vs asphalt. Thoughts?
Unfortunately the smooth ride already has been torn up a bit at the intersection of 1st NW and 85th.
The concrete is more expensive, but I believe that it stands up better to heavy vehicles like buses. So you’ll see concrete pads at bus stops, or right-lanes made of concrete. Major intersections also tend to me made of it.
The inner lanes are expected to handle less weight, so they use cheaper asphalt – it can be “quickly” scraped off and replaced, as long as what’s underneath is in good shape.