The Greater Maple Valley Area Council serves as an all-volunteer, locally elected advisory body to the King County Council. It represents all unincorporated area residents living in the Tahoma School District. On Monday, July 10, the Area Council held its regular monthly meeting and two major topics were addressed: (1) closure of 276^th Ave SE for culvert replacement and (2) development a Rural Vision for the community.

276^th Ave SE Closure

The majority of the meeting served as the second community meeting between the public and King County and State of Washington Department of Transportation (DOT) people. Plans were presented for this summer’s temporary closure of 276^th Ave SE (Issaquah-Hobart Rd) south of the SR-18 near SE 197^th St to replace the culvert. Over 25 concerned and affected citizens attended to discuss issues related to the closure and rerouting of traffic during culvert replacement.

DOT personnel in attendance included King County Road Services Frank Overton (Project Engineer), Paulette Norman (County Road Engineer), and Mark Mitchell (Traffic Operations), as well as WA State DOT’s Derek Case (SR-18 Project Engineer). DOT personnel first summarized their current plan to close 276^th Ave SE for 45 days starting in mid-August through the end of September. They presented their designated detour route. Questions that arose during the first public meeting on the closure held in June were addressed. Finally, new issues brought up by those in attendance including Area Council members were discussed and several mitigations proposed and agreed to.

The current DOT plan will replace the existing 36-in diameter culvert with a fish-passable culvert and will include excavation and re-building a 25-ft deep road embankment. The reasons given were that the existing culvert is cracked and deteriorating and to provide for upstream fish passage. More details can be found at the project site: http://www.metrokc.gov/kcdot/roads/cip/ProjectDetail.aspx?CIPID=400306.

The detour route presented by DOT is: 276^th Ave SE to SE 216^th St to 244^th Ave SE to SR-18 to 276^th Ave SE. Many concerns were raised including traffic volumes and flow, speed limits, and local access. Four local rural roads in addition to 276^th Ave SE will be affected during the project’s duration: SE 216^th St, 244^th Ave SE, SE 208^th St, and SE 200^th St. DOT personnel were continually pressed to recognize the rural nature of all these roads, especially the current levels of traffic and speed limits observed by motorists. In addition, major concerns were raised related to the existing temporary traffic signal at the 244^th Ave SE and SR-18 intersection. State DOT’s Derek Case stated the ramps at 244^th Ave SE and the new lanes on SR-18 are planned to be opened by Labor Day--leaving at least a 2-week overlap with the 276^th Ave SE closure’s diversion of traffic which will certainly cause problems (DOT’s Case stated they will monitor the traffic flow and adjust the timing of the 244^th Ave SE traffic signal as needed).

DOT provided several mitigations to problems discussed at the first June public meeting. These include: (1) motorcycle officers for additional traffic control on an as-needed basis during the project; (2) an officer at the SE 216^th St and 244^th Ave SE intersection during peak commutes; (3) officers at other locations on an as-needed basis; (4) electronic signs showing motorist’s radar-read speeds on SE 216^th St (it was requested this be done soon to increase motorists’ awareness and DOT personnel agreed); and (5) signage on 276^th Ave SE near Four Corners and near SR-18 to alert motorists and large truck traffic to potential delays and encourage alternate routes be used.

Several additional mitigations for SE 208^th St and SE 200^th St requested at this second meeting were discussed. These include: (1) Local Access Only signage at both ends; (2) mowing of grass on each side to show there are essentially no shoulders; and (3) addressing guardrail, road jogs, and blind spots (especially on SE 200^th St). DOT personnel agreed to the Local Access Only signage and will look at the details of the other mitigation requests.

The Area Council expressed concern to DOT personnel that, as the elected representatives for local citizens to King County, they were not alerted to this project until reading about it in the Voice of the Valley. Apologies were offered and accepted. The Area Council requested and DOT personnel agreed to return in August and September to provide project updates.

Rural Vision

The Area Council continued work to draft a “Rural Vision” to better articulate desires and concerns of greater Maple Valley area rural residents. This vision statement will be used to provide guidance for others and ourselves as we seek positive outcomes for our community in the future. The Area Council intends to develop an “overarching” vision statement with supporting elements and objectives based on the wealth of information contained in our biannual Citizen Advisory Ballot Surveys (see Voice, January 31, p. 3, for last November's results) and past area planning exercises.

Initially nine major elements were identified: Community, Economy, Education, Environment, Government, Growth, Infrastructure, Leadership, and Public Health and Safety. For each element Area Council members identified what we do and don't want to see in our rural area to determine which are deemed most important to be included in a vision statement. At the completion of this process the Area Council will solicit public comment on the draft vision statement and eventually use the agreed-on final product in communicating with the County and other entities.

Next Meeting

The Area Council meets on the first Monday of each month (except on legal holidays) in the conference room of Sheriff's Precinct # 3 Headquarters (at 231^st St. SR-169 across from Fire Station). The public is invited to attend. Each meeting begins with an Open Comment period to allow the public to voice issues of concern. Our next regular monthly meeting will be held on Monday, August 7, 2006, at 7:00 PM. Comments on Area Council business may be submitted to GMVAC, P.O. Box 101, Maple Valley, WA  98038, or to Dick Bonewits, Chair, at gmvac_chair@hotmail.com.