As we received the end-of-week update on what’s next for the Avalon/35th/Alaska project, we also asked SDOT about related problems reported to us this past week. First, the update:

Here are the main things happening this weekend and next week:

We are wrapping up zone B demolition on the east half SW Avalon Way! This Saturday, May 4 and Monday, May 6, we are planning to pave the road base on the east side of SW Avalon Way from SW Genesee St to SW Yancy (Zone B). Please note that paving is weather dependent and may be postponed if the weather is wetter than anticipated. Once paving is complete, we plan to grind the sections of remaining existing pavement on Tuesday, May 7 and Wednesday, May 8. We will then move traffic to the east side of SW Avalon Way as we shift work to the west side of the street as early as Friday, May 10.

From Friday, May 3 through Sunday, May 5, we will be closing the east side of the intersection of SW Avalon Way and SW Genesee St to demolish existing pavement, grade, and pave the intersection. Crews will need to work across multiple lanes of traffic in the intersection. We plan to reopen this intersection as early as Monday, May 6.

Work on 35th Ave SW from SW Avalon Way to SW Alaska St (Zone E) will begin as soon as Tuesday, May 7. We will maintain one lane of traffic in each direction on 35th Ave SW between Fauntleroy Way SW and SW Alaska St. See below for more information about what to expect.

Current and upcoming side street closures:

-SW Genesee St will be closed through May 5 on the east side of SW Avalon Way. People driving west on SW Genesee St will not be able to access SW Avalon Way and will need to use alternate routes to access SW Genesee St east of the intersection. We plan to reopen the intersection as soon as Monday, May 6.

-30th Ave SW will be temporarily closed for construction staging. You will not be able to access SW Avalon Way from 30th Ave SW. 30th Ave SW will be permanently closed at the completion of this project.

-SW Snoqualmie St will be closed to 35th Ave SW for construction staging. Local access will be maintained from 36th Ave SW.

The full update is here (PDF).

Meantime, the project team also tells us, “We’ve received reports of people driving following people biking too closely through construction areas. Safety is our priority, and we want to ensure everyone can safely get around work areas.” This matches some reports we’ve received, too. Asked whether there’s anything more they can or will do for multi-modal safety, the project team told us:

Regarding safety for people riding bikes, we are continuing to assess and address the concerns raised. We have designed our work in smaller zones to minimize impacts to the current bike paths throughout the project corridor. To date we continue to advised people riding bikes to look for alternative routes through our work zones. We met with the West Seattle Bike Connections group to talk through alternative routes, and we understand this is a challenging geography. We have as much signage that is allowed in our work zone about bicycles merging with traffic and the bicycle lane ending. We also have Uniformed Police Officers to assist traffic in our work zone.

To complete each of the project phases, we have to maintain 11′ lanes and have to request that all modes of transportation share the road through the construction zones. We are adding a radar speed sign to advocate for cars to slow down when heading northbound.

Another issue that’s been brought to our attention: Side-street traffic trouble, like the 28th/Dakota truck problems Laura caught in these clips:

The project team also was sent those clips. Their response:

To access SW Avalon Way, people driving should be using the posted detour route by heading north on Delridge Way SW, turning left onto SW Andover, turning left onto 28th Ave SW and turning right onto SW Yancy St before they get to SW Dakota St.

We have witnessed many people driving bypassing the “road closed” signs in the neighborhoods which can get them into situations like the one shown in your video, making it difficult to make tight turns. To ensure that the “road closed” signs are as visible as possible to drivers, we have adjusted their location at 26th Ave SW and SW Genesee St to discourage people driving from traveling west towards 31st Ave SW.

Last but not least, we noted multiple reports of very late-night and early-morning work in the area earlier this week. That response:

There was unanticipated late-night work this week. Seattle Public Utilities is working along the corridor to renew water services as we have the roadway base demolished. Last night, emergency work took place to secure a leaking pipe. SPU had a noise variance for their emergency work. Unfortunately, due to the urgent nature of the work, they were not able to notify us about this work, otherwise we would have let the public know right away. Additionally, as we work throughout the corridor, private developers may do additional utility connections when we are not working. Our goal is to coordinate with them about work hours to pass information to the public; however, we don’t always get the information in a timely manner.

The project hotline for complaints/questions: 206-900-8734.

A Harbor Island worker emailed us wondering why the “low bridge” was opening and closing relatively frequently at midday a few days earlier this week without vessels going through. We checked the @SDOTBridges Twitter feed and found verification of the multiple closures, each lasting about 10 minutes. Testing? Trouble? Or? We asked SDOT, whose spokesperson Ethan Bergerson checked it out and replied: “They were training a new bridge operator. In order to ensure that all staff have a thorough understanding of how to operate the bridge safely, all new (ones) spend three days of training opening the bridge 12 times per day. Yesterday was the final day.”