Shortened medians on 67th Ave. should help truck traffic, city says

ARLINGTON Truckers on 67th Avenue can look forward to more clearance in and out of certain businesses, according to city of Arlington staff.

Len Olive, city public works director, updated the Arlington City Council Aug. 11 on plans to shorten the three medians on 67th Avenue by roughly 60 feet each.

Eric Hentila, senior streets maintenance worker for the city, explained that all the medians were being shortened to accommodate trucks from businesses along 67th Avenue, so they won't have to run over the planter strips.

One median is located just south of 197th Street NE, next to Cuz Concrete, while another is located near Kooy Trucking. The third is located just south of 188th Street NE, next to HCI Steel.

"You can see the lines where the trucks' tires have gone over the curb," said Hentila, who noted that the medians have been a part of 67th Avenue ever since it was rebuilt less than 10 years ago. "Right now, we're in the process of scheduling contractors to give us bid estimates on the work. We've already had one contractor come out to the site and look at it."

Hentila estimated that all of the bid estimates could be submitted within the next couple of weeks. He described the median-shortening as a "filler project," which would be conducted between other projects, and like Olive, he believes that it can be conducted without long-term closures of 67th Avenue.

"We can utilize the center lanes, and possibly flaggers," Hentila said.

The project will remove the existing curbs, gutters and spoils, bring in a sub-base of crushed gravel and add new radius ends to the medians, as well as paving the areas once covered by the medians. Irrigations systems have already been installed in all of the medians, but the median near Kooy Trucking will need its sprinkler systems to be reinstalled, since they're currently installed in the part of the median that's set to be removed.

Contact Arlington Times Reporter Kirk Boxleitner at kboxleitner@marysvilleglobe.com or 360-659-1300 Ext. 5052.

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