If you’ll be driving along 85th Street today, take note that traffic near the intersection of 6th Avenue NW is narrowed to one lane in each direction due to utility work. And 6th Avenue NW is blocked off with cones, so no turning off or onto 6th.

Seattle City Light has begun installing 12,000 LED streetlights from North 65th Street to the northern border of City Light’s service area. According to City Light, the LED lights are brighter and increase public safety, while reducing energy costs.

Last year City Light installed 6,000 LED streetlights between the Ship Canal and North 65th Street.

According to Seattle City Councilman Bruce Harrell, the new LED lights installed last year saved the city about $300,000. Savings are expected to reach $2.4 million each year once all streetlights are converted.

A side-by-side comparison of old high-pressure sodium streetlights (on the left), and new LED streetlights (photos courtesy of City of Seattle):

City crews showed up at North 97th Street and Dayton Avenue North this morning to start cleaning up the overgrown sidewalk where two women were attacked last week, with one of them being abducted and raped. One suspect was arrested at a Ballard bar two nights ago.

Photos by J. Elizabeth Sheriden.

Neighbor Julia contacted the city right after the attack to ask the city to clean up the dangerously overgrown area. She said another neighbor also contacted the city, and others were about to, when the city workers showed up.

In this instance, the city normally would have had the area on its maintenance schedule but the residents at 97th and Dayton Ave N. said they would maintain the strip. However, health or time or whatever prevented that and the area overgrew deeply with thickets of roses, ferns, scratchy brush and ivy…One passer by said, “We want the women to know they can be safe here.”

When the city was notified, everything just happened to fall into place and the City was able to respond quickly…It is important that the criminals know our police will catch them, our city will prosecute them, our jury will render a verdict, and these women will hopefully receive justice and peace of mind knowing that their neighbors care deeply about the safety of the neighborhood. In large part, things fell into place well.

The four-person city crew cleaning up the overgrown area around North 97th Street and Dayton Avenue North.

Thank you to Julia for the tip and photos!

LS sent us a photo of the city’s Pothole Rangers filling a large pothole at the corner of North 80th Street and Greenwood Avenue North today, between Diva Espresso and Taco Del Mar.

You can report a pothole, check the status of the reported repair, and see a map of all reported potholes in the city here.

The entire intersection of 80th and Greenwood will be rebuilt with concrete when Seattle Department of Transportation begins its major repaving project of Greenwood Avenue as well as 85th Street starting in October.

Businesses and residents along 85th Street from Green Lake to Greenwood and Ballard will have some major disruptions to deal with beginning this fall, when the Seattle Department of Transportation begins a yearlong project to repave 85th Street all the way from Interstate 5 to 15th Avenue NW.

Traffic will be severely impacted along 85th Street during a yearlong paving project.

But, in the end, that street will not only be easier to drive on, there will be new curb ramps, bus stop improvements, repaired sidewalks, new underground drainage and environmentally friendly storm water facilities.

Work is scheduled to begin in October and last about one year. The $12.5 million project is being paid for with funds from the 2006 Bridging the Gap Levy.

Another $2 million repaving project, along Greenwood Avenue North from North 85th Street to North 73rd Street, will happen at about the same time, in conjunction with the first two of the 85th Street project’s five phases. SDOT also will replace sidewalks on Greenwood Avenue North for about 100 feet north and south of the North 85th Street intersection.

“It’s the single largest paving project in the nine-year history of Bridging the Gap,” SDOT Project Manager Jessica Murphy explained to the Greenwood-Phinney Chamber of Commerce on Friday afternoon.

On 85th Street, SDOT will pour new concrete pavement in the curb lanes, where heavier traffic such as buses and trucks usually travel. The inside lanes in each direction will mostly be resurfaced with asphalt, with a few exceptions.

Three intersections along 85th Street will be completely rebuilt with all concrete because of heavy use: 8th Avenue NW, Greenwood Avenue North and Aurora Avenue North.

Murphy called the Greenwood Avenue resurfacing a “preservation project,” explaining that it’s much easier and cheaper to fix pavement now before it needs a complete re-do, like on 85th Street. However, the entire intersection at Greenwood Avenue North and North 80th Street will be rebuilt with concrete.

SDOT will upgrade curb ramps at all corners for ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance. Storm water retention pipes will be installed on 85th Street to reduce peak flows, as well as storm water filtering devices to remove most of the sediment before it reaches the creeks.

Most areas will get repaired and improvement sidewalks, but SDOT will completely replace the sidewalks on 85th Street between Wallingford and Aurora avenues.

85th Street will be narrowed to one lane in each direction sometimes, and complete detours will be in place at other times.

“The construction impacts are going to be significant on 85th. Obviously every business that has a driveway on 85th will be impacted at some point several times,” Murphy said, adding that driveway closures would be limited to a few days here and there for each business.

SDOT has been conducting surveys of businesses along 85th.

“We try to support the businesses by trying to work within what their operational needs are,” she said.

SDOT is still finishing design work and figuring out all the details. A likely candidate for detours would be 80th Street. Murphy said the agency will conduct a full traffic signal analysis of detour routes so they can retime traffic lights for maximum efficiency.

While the project starts in October, SDOT will not put in place any detours until January, after the holiday shopping season.

Work on 85th Street will happen in five phases, starting at 15th Avenue NW and moving east.

• Phase 1 – 15th Avenue NW to 8th Avenue NW
• Phase 2 – 8th Avenue NW to Greenwood Avenue North
• Phase 3 – Greenwood Avenue North to Aurora Avenue North
• Phase 4 – Aurora Avenue North to Wallingford Avenue North
• Phase 5 – Wallingford Avenue North to I-5.

SDOT hopes to finish the first two phases by spring of 2012. Work will primarily happen during the day, except work on the major intersections will happen at night on a 24-hour schedule.

“We’re really going to need the community’s help and support to get through it,” Murphy said. “It’s going to be a challenge for everyone.”

Seattle Department of Transportation paving crews started work on Third Avenue NW between NW 92nd to NW 97th streets today. They had originally planned to work only from NW 95th to NW 97th streets. The work is expected to continue through tomorrow.

One lane for each direction of traffic will remain open on Third Avenue. On-street parking will be restricted. Traffic flaggers may assist traffic to and from side streets.

Today the crew will grind the old asphalt from the street surface, and tomorrow, if weather is favorable, they will lay new asphalt.

This work is a part of SDOT’s annual arterial street maintenance program.

Seattle Department of Transportation crews will pave Third Avenue NW between NW 95th and NW 97th streets on Thursday and Friday.

The crews may advance the work on Third Avenue to Wednesday, April 13 in the event that weather does not permit paving Holman Road on Wednesday as previously scheduled.

One lane for each direction of traffic will remain open on Third Avenue. On-street parking will be restricted. Traffic flaggers may assist traffic to and from side streets.

On the first day the crew will grind the old asphalt from the street surface, and on the second day, if weather is favorable, they will lay new asphalt.

This work is a part of SDOT’s annual arterial street maintenance program.

Seattle Department of Transportation paving crews will work on Holman Road NW between Mary Avenue NW and 9th Avenue NW on Wednesday and Thursday, weather permitting. The crews will work from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day to grind off old pavement and lay new asphalt on part of the street. One north lane and two south lanes will remain open during the work.

Potholes have been on the minds of many of us this winter, as the snowstorms opened up a bunch of doozies. The city normally has a backlog of about 200 potholes to fill, but they’re currently dealing with a list of about 1,000.

Tonight at 7 p.m. on the Seattle Channel on cable channel 21, the show “City Inside/Out” with C.R. Douglas goes in-depth with ”Seattle Streets.”

This week, City Inside/Out takes a look at how the city is scrambling to catch up with street maintenance projects. Are we neglecting our transportation infrastructure? Does the transportation system need more money? If so, what kind of taxes: Higher car tabs? Higher parking rates? Or is City Hall focusing on the wrong problems? Are the politicians paying for major projects and neglecting neighborhood streets? To get answers, host C.R. Douglas sits down with Seattle Department of Transportation Director Peter Hahn, Downtown Seattle Association’s Policy Director Jon Scholes and Transportation Choices’ Executive Director Rob Johnson.

Greenwood Streetscapes is a group of volunteers helping neighbors work together to get sidewalks in their neighborhoods. Their first block study is of NW 86th to NW 88th streets between 3rd Avenue NW and 6th Avenue NW. The block study workshop is from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Northwest Neighborhood Service Center, 8515 Greenwood Ave. N.

Greenwood Streetscapes Volunteer Kate Martin provided this information:

The smallest unit of study that seems to make sense so far is a whole block, all the way around the block, including any shared alley. Alleys seem likely to play a role in streetscape projects and project organization.

The purpose of this first workshop is to share information, provide a forum for discussion, and utilize our professional volunteers as facilitators and scribes in the exchange of information so that blocks can make progress toward whatever streetscape projects they decide to get involved in. It’s a starting point for developing a block plan that you and your neighbors can implement over time.

Please email Kate if you plan to attend.

Other upcoming block study workshops:

Oct. 14: Block bordered by North 95th and 97th Streets, Greenwood Avenue North, Dayton Avenue North. “Special emphasis on making a plan for the undeveloped street end that exists on the wooded slope between Greenwood and Phinney.”

Oct. 21: Four blocks – Evanston Avenue North, North 90th Street to North 92nd Street. “This region includes the N-S oriented long blocks between Phinney Ave N and Dayton Ave N, Dayton Ave N and Evanston Ave N, Evanston Ave N and Fremont Ave N between N 90th St and N 92nd St. including the around the block areas on N 90th and N 92nd.”

Oct. 28: North 101st to 103rd streets, Greenwood Avenue North to Dayton Avenue North.

Seattle Department of Transportation will close one lane of NW 80th Street, between 3rd Avenue NW and 8th Avenue NW, on Friday to perform pavement maintenance work.

From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. one lane on NW 80th Street will remain open with each direction of traffic taking turns, assisted by traffic flaggers. From 5 p.m. Friday until 7 a.m. on Saturday, the street will be open for westbound traffic, and eastbound traffic will be detoured at 8th Avenue NW to NW 85th, returning to NW 80th at 3rd NW.

Seattle Department of Transportation is closing the right-hand, southbound lane on the Alaskan Way Viaduct this week, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. today through Wednesday. The lane will be closed from S. Massachusetts St. to S. Holgate St., so that crews may repair a damaged railing. Allow extra time to get through downtown on the Viaduct.