Wondering when SR 522 stage 3 project will be finished?

Blame it on the weather

Many drivers who travel between Kenmore and Bothell have been wondering what's going on with the section that has been widened for bus lanes from the Yakima Fruit stand to the city limits of Kenmore. The work, except for some landscaping seemingly has been finished for some months now, but the traffic barrels remain and buses still aren't using the newly created bus lanes.

The KCC Connector contacted Ruth Hu, Senior Capital Project Engineer for the project and asked what's up? Her response is that it has been too cold to do the required striping and pavement signage.

"The reason the bus lanes remain closed is because we still need to install thermal striping, which is weather/air temperature dependent," she said by email. "Per our specifications, we can’t put down any thermal plastic lines when the air temperature is below 50 degrees. At this point, the striping work is tentatively scheduled for Mid-May. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. It will take about 5-7 days to complete the work."

Keep your weather fingers crossed, and maybe, just maybe, the bus lanes will be flowing by the end of May.