When is the construction on State Route 522 going to finish?
The wording of the question may have been a little different, but the timeline for finishing the work on Kenmore’s main street was easily the most talked about subject during a community question-and-answer session hosted by Kenmore Mayor David Baker on May 28.
Held at the Kenmore Community Center, the event only drew about 20 residents, but perhaps not surprisingly, many had strong views of what is happening in the city.
Regarding SR 522, according to Baker, at least a portion of the roadwork should be done in the next few weeks. Baker said he had been “harassing” city staff with questions about the construction for some time.
A spokesperson for the SR 522 project, Heidi Sowell confirmed work between 73rd Avenue Northeast and 83rd Avenue Northeast will be completed shortly. She said a ribbon cutting for the new-and-improved stretch of roadway should happen in July.
As for work on what Sowell called the central segment, stretching from 65th Avenue Northeast to 73rd, that project will continue into next year. Even then the orange barrels may not be gone for good. Sowell said work on a west segment still is in the design phase, though there is no funding for that construction at present.
On a few other subjects:
• Baker said talks are ongoing between developers Urban Partners and the U.S. Post Office regarding the latter moving their Kenmore branch office into what is now Kenmore City Hall.
The possibility of the post office moving into City Hall or some other spot in the existing Kenmore Village surfaced in April, but Baker added there may be a new twist to the story.
According to Baker, the owners of a potential second location are courting the post office. Baker said he isn’t privy to where that location might be as, apparently, postal officials just aren’t saying. They also didn’t return a Reporter phone call.
In any case, with the involvement now of the office of U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-1, Baker said he is confident that the Kenmore post office will be moving from its current location on Northeast 181st Street to another spot within the city.
While Baker said he would prefer the post office select the City Hall location, the main goal is keeping the branch within Kenmore.
The King County Library is set to move on construction of a new facility at the location now occupied by the Kenmore post office. The situation has led the city and others to try to find a new spot for the postal branch.
Seattle’s Urban Partners are involved in the talks as the lead developer for what could become a completely rebuilt Kenmore Village.
• Regarding Kenmore Village, Baker said the development is still stuck in neutral.
“The problem is not the funding,” he added, stating Urban Partners has secured about 80 percent of the needed dollars. As Baker and others have said in the past, what Urban Partners has not been able to find is a worthy anchor tenant. Development and city officials have blamed the slow economy.
“Stay tuned,” was Baker’s answer to a question on whether or not the city will extend the leases of the current tenants of Kenmore Village such as Grocery Outlet. Urban Partners has suggested allowing current retailers to stay put for up to a year.
• One other subject that drew some heat from those in attendance at the Q-and-A session involved alleged smell and air-pollution problems connected with the Cemex plant just off SR 522. Baker said the city administration has been in contact with the state Department of Ecology, which he said has permit and enforcement authority over the plant. He added that Kenmore leaders have not gotten any response from Olympia so far. Residents urged Baker and the city to push the state into action.
“I don’t have a big enough hammer, you do,” said one resident.
