At Saturday’s Westwood Village Street Fair, someone who stopped by the WSB booth asked us what’s up with the seemingly endless work on the bus stops at 35th/Avalon – RapidRide-related work that’s been anything but rapid. Just so happens that SDOT‘s Marybeth Turner has provided this “progress report”:
After some unforeseen challenges that delayed work on the RapidRide bus stops at 35th Avenue SW and SW Avalon Way, the contractor has begun pouring the new sidewalk on the west side of the street, and hopes to reopen the sidewalk on the west side of the street by the end of the week of June 18.
In the interim, the temporary west-side sidewalk has been more clearly delineated to make it safer for pedestrians. The temporary sidewalk is also ADA-compliant with temporary ramps for wheelchairs to maneuver between the section of the sidewalk still open and the temporary sidewalk. In addition, a police officer will be present through the week of June 18 while construction activities are occurring to ensure safety and smooth the flow of traffic.
The big challenge has been on the east side of 35th, where a wooden utility pole was found to be rotted and in need of replacement, but only after the sidewalk had been torn up. It took a number of weeks to secure and place the replacement pole, but that is now done and construction activities have resumed. The contractor hopes to pour the sidewalk on the east side the week of June 18, and it should be reopened to pedestrians by the first week of July (hopefully sooner).
Both bus stops will be reopened as soon as the contractor has completed their piece of the work, although both will again be temporarily closed for several days later in the summer when the RapidRide shelters are put in place.
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