Hewitt-Rucker intersection open |
Project milestone - Hewitt intersection opens to traffic!
The story to come is primarily about concrete and the weather. The contractor is using every decent weather opportunity to advance the concrete pouring schedule, but snow is in the forecast and may slow progress of the concrete work if we see freezing temperatures and accumulations. Most earthwork is complete in this section of the project, and the contractor will continue to work on remaining tasks, including installation of the illumination system.
See the updated project status map showing the California Street intersection, the block between Everett Avenue and California Street, Hoyt and the intersection with Hewitt opened to all traffic.
Hewitt looking north-new sidewalk
 | Wall-Rucker intersection
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CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS THIS WEEK
Rucker
- Everett to California
- The block between Everett Avenue and California Street remains OPEN TO ALL TRAFFIC (reopened on Friday, December 6 at 1:15 p.m.)
- California to Hewitt
- The contractor has completed continuous concrete sidewalk and driveways on the west side.
- Hewitt intersection
- OPENED TO TRAFFIC on Thursday, January 9 at 3 p.m. following the contractor paving the asphalt tie-in to Rucker Avenue.
- Hewitt to Wall
- Intermittent access delays at the Aero apartments.
- Wall to Pacific
- The contractor continued demolishing half the width of the roadway and began subsurface irrigation and electrical work.
Wall
- The Wall Street crossing of Rucker was closed. Note the Hewitt crossing of Rucker is now open and available for use.
Hoyt
- Hoyt remains fully OPEN TO TRAFFIC.
UPCOMING
Rucker
- Hewitt intersection
- Hewitt/Rucker intersection - OPEN TO TRAFFIC
- Everett to California
- The block between Everett Avenue and California Street -- OPEN TO ALL TRAFFIC
- California to Hewitt
- The contractor will continue placing new sidewalk along the east side of the street, weather permitting.
- Hewitt to Wall
- Intermittent access delays at the Aero apartments will continue.
- The contractor will continue with demolition of the west-side sidewalk and installation of subsurface electrical and irrigation work.
- Wall to Pacific
- The contractor will continue to demolish half the width of the roadway while maintaining southbound vehicle access. Weather permitting, concrete pavement placement will begin.
Wall
- Wall Street intersection
- The Wall Street intersection will continue to be closed to construct the road. The closure does not include the eastbound right turn onto Rucker (going south).
- Wall Street will be closed to the alley between Rucker and Hoyt.
- The contractor previously uncovered large metal bands just east of the Rucker intersection -- remnants of an old wood stave waterline –and a large void or empty space where the disintegrated pipe used to be under the Wall roadway. The bands have to be removed, and the void filled before the road can be reconstructed.
Hoyt
- Hoyt will remain fully OPEN TO TRAFFIC while the contractor begins irrigation work on the northwest and southwest corners and complete some remaining minor sidewalk work.
REMINDERS
Check out the photo gallery to see what's been found under the roadway.
DID YOU KNOW…
- The decision to pour concrete has to be made the night before? The job superintendent has to consider if weather will allow work to continue and whether to deploy truck drivers and tradespeople to the project site the next day. No change to deployment can be made the day of.
- Pouring concrete in the rain is problematic? On a heavy rain day, you might be able to pour curbs, but you can’t pour roadway or sidewalks. Pouring concrete in the rain has a detrimental effect on the finished product.
- Sometimes only a handful of workers are on site at a time because that line of work is necessary before other work can proceed? It is not productive, but it is costly, to have additional trades on site waiting to work.
- Putting in new roads and sidewalks involves the work of many different trades? Having multiple trades working in a given project area simultaneously can create congestion and crew interference, and negatively affects productivity. This is called stacking trades, and it is best management practice to avoid it.
- There are many reasons why a concrete plant might not be open? Roadway construction involves an intricate supply chain, one example being concrete work. Concrete plants are usually closed during cold weather, weekends, nighttime and holidays. Pouring concrete depends upon the concrete plant being open, and if concrete isn’t being made that day, concrete can’t be poured.
- You find all kinds of things under a 100-year-old roadway? Three abandoned oil tanks, an abandoned and deteriorated wood stave water transmission line, voids or empty spaces, unsuitable soils (old dredge spoil soils and organic materials), under sidewalk areaways, and shallow conduits (positioned too close to the surface; required relocating) have all been found under the roadway in the Rucker project. Each discovery requires different solutions that take time. The unsuitable soils alone required more than a week dedicated to additional excavation and backfill with suitable soils.
CONSTRUCTION CONSTRAINTS
Every streetscape project has two primary competing priorities: access during construction vs. construction duration/cost. If road impacts are lessened, construction time and cost increase. If construction time is reduced, severity of road impacts must increase proportionately. For the Rucker Renewal streetscape project, the staging and pacing of the work is designed to allow as much access to businesses as possible while allowing construction to progress as quickly as possible. In this urban environment, pedestrian access and safety has been prioritized over vehicular access.
Existing state and local requirements also impact the contractor's working conditions.
- Per the contract provisions, there cannot be construction outside of the City's noise ordinance, which limits the amount of time each day that the contractor can conduct noise producing work.
- The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) standard specifications specify days of the year that can be counted as "working days" in transportation contracts. Among others, federal holidays and days that are deemed unworkable due to weather are defined as "nonworking days." The days between Christmas and New Year's Day are designated as nonworking days.
Maximizing efficiency, minimizing impacts
City staff work closely with the contractor to get the work done as quickly as possible and minimize disruption to business and the traveling public. Some examples of agile project management employed on Rucker Renewal include:
- Full block traffic closures only occur within one stage at a time.
- The contract allows the contractor to work within multiple stages, but full block closures are limited to one stage at a time.
- The contractor works many Saturdays, weather permitting.
- To allow traffic to remain open through the work zone and shorten the time needed for a full closure of the Stage 2 work later, the contractor performed the waterline portion of the Stage 2 work early, maintaining traffic through this area.
- Single-direction, local vehicle access has been allowed for specific business needs that cannot be otherwise accommodated.
- Single-lane, two-way traffic permitted in areas where construction is not actively occurring but for which dedicated construction vehicle access is necessary.
- Pedestrian access and safety is prioritized over vehicle access during construction; full pedestrian business access to Rucker street frontages at all times.
- Old sidewalks are left in place during street paving.
- Pedestrian routes moved to street on new street pavement.
- New sidewalks constructed
Access
- A pedestrian detour route will be available through the area.
- Rucker Avenue between Everett and California - OPEN TO TRAFFIC
- Rucker Avenue between California and Hewitt - FULL BLOCK CLOSURE
- Rucker Avenue between Wall and Hewitt - vehicular access will remain open with one-way access northbound.
- Rucker Avenue from Wall to Pacific – vehicular access is provided for southbound travel only.
- A flagger will be present at the Wall/Rucker intersection during work hours.
- The signed detour that has been in place will remain.
3 Parts. One full closure at a time.
The project is broken into three parts. Each part is referred to as a stage. Full block closures may only occur within a single stage at a time, but work tasks may overlap.
- Stage One - Rucker between Everett and Hewitt; Hoyt between Wall and Pacific; California west of Rucker (3.5 blocks)
- Stage Two - Rucker between Hewitt and up to and including Wall; Wall Street from Hoyt to west of Rucker (2.5 blocks)
- Stage Three - Rucker between Wall and Pacific (1 block)
Future closures of the Rucker and Everett Avenue intersection will occur later in the project in support of the traffic signal work at that intersection.
Work-zone vandalism has occurred outside of construction hours. To report suspicious activity, please call Everett Police's non-emergency line: 425-407-3999.
Business support
The City’s tourism channels (VisitEverett.com, facebook.com/visiteverett, instagram.com/visiteverett) are highlighting stakeholders impacted by the Rucker Renewal project, and yours could be next. If you're interested in your business being featured, please contact Julio Cortes at 425-257-7110.
Construction liaison info
Pedestrian access
The contract provides for an ADA compliant, 6-foot protected and lighted pedestrian path, and any pedestrian detours will be signed. Pedestrians are discouraged from traveling in the work zone, but when necessary, the contractor is required to provide escorts during work hours.
Business entrances
Business entrances will always be accessible either via an existing sidewalk or a temporary asphalt sidewalk, except during short periods of concrete placement and curing.
Work hours
Project work hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., with possible evening work. Everett’s noise ordinance prohibits work between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. during the week and between 10 p.m. and 9 a.m. on weekends, unless a variance has been issued. Please note that Everett's noise ordinance allows work until 10 p.m. on Saturdays.
Historical findings
See images of historical finds from the Rucker Renewal project in the photo gallery.