SW Roads update

I was out and about today in the blustery and rainy weather and I took a little tour of McGargile Road and the improvements that were made with Federal stimulus funds. The road was improved with sidewalks and paving to accommodate school busses coming to Evergreen School - see previous posts. If you haven't been to SW in a long time, Evergreen School is north and east of Cascade Middle School - they share playfields.

The road is narrower than I expected but that is probably because of properties owned on either side. But it looks nice. The road appears to be finished from Hwy 9 to Carter Road. Past that, on eastward toward the golf course and Fruitdale Road, it is still torn up with gravel and cones everywhere. No work going on - I'll have to find out if they're going to finish it this winter or what.

Below are some photos of the improvements and pending improvements, plus a photo of the Sedro-Woolley sign that is on Highway 20 - looking west.

In other news, Highway 20 is now closed for the winter.

More as it develops!

Big Dig is underway in Sedro-Woolley

Signs like this are commonplace these days:




As contractors wind up the road repair and construction season, the Highway 20 traffic round is almost complete, the McGargile/Highway 9 improvements are nearly complete, and other projects around town are racing to beat the weather changes.









Highway 20 traffic round traveling east.









The City of Sedro-Woolley changed the downtown closures of Metcalf Street slightly, to accommodate some downtown events. Here is the schedule as most recently issued by the City Public Works department:

"Stage 1: Beginning October 5th and lasting approximately two weeks, Metcalf Street from Ferry Street to the bowling alley (see map) will be closed and fenced off from curb to curb. Access will be maintained on sidewalks for pedestrians only during this time. The intersection of Metcalf and Ferry will also be closed. The contractor will dig up and lower sewer lines in one location.

Stage 2: Beginning October 19th and lasting approximately three weeks, Metcalf Street from State Street to Woodworth Street (see map) will be closed and fenced off from curb to curb. Access will be maintained on sidewalks for pedestrians only during this time. The contractor will dig up and lower sewer lines in two locations."

So Phase 1 is coming along - I was out of town last weekend and I apparently missed the part where there was a big hole in the ground. Today it is largely filled in. See photo. But the intersection of Metcalf and Ferry was closed to traffic today and that causes a lot of confusion. I was walking!

Phase 2 starts next week and is expected to last three weeks. Thus interrupting the Halloween Parade! This year Halloween falls on a Saturday, and the parade will commence at 2:00 in the afternoon instead of at dusk (as it has in other years). And the route will be different, pretty much all taking place from west to east on Ferry. This is big news in Sedro-Woolley, as the kidlets get to trick-or-treat the downtown merchants and we don't want anybody falling in the Big Hole In The Street!!


Today was blustery and cooler. Tonight there is a 100% chance of rain and more winds. Every year we have a wind and rain storm in October that ushers in the seasonal weather. Looks like this is it! There's a low pressure area off the coast and the wind is blowing from east to west to fill it in. Leaves are skidding east on Ferry street today. But not all the leaves are down yet. And in the downtown core, when there is a big windstorm, we find a lot of funny things in our yards. I lost a roll of plastic backsplash one time, that I had staged on the porch for a contractor. Another time I found one of our lawn chair cushions about a block away, totally by accident. I was driving down the street, I saw this big green thing, and I said, "That looks like mine." It was. I get a lot of miscellaneous debris in the yard. Nothing interesting. Sure hope this wind brings the rest of those filberts down!

More as it develops.

Summer of Construction

This has been a big summer for construction in Sedro-Woolley, in spite of the heat and the economy. Everywhere I go, I see things happening, and I'm pasting a few photos below for you to enjoy, even tho it's hard to take interesting photos of road construction.

The biggest event is the "improvement" of Highway 20 just north of the old Skagit Steel property. There will be a traffic round (!) creating an intersection at the north end of that industrial park and just west of the Les Schwab Tire store. All summer, truckers have been cutting through downtown to avoid the flaggers. Starting yesterday, that section of Highway 20 is closed for the final push and there is an actual detour through town. The little section is scheduled to be closed from Sept. 9th to 23rd, and the contractors placed big digital signs at both ends of the construction zone to make the announcement well in advance. Unfortunately, some people interpreted this to mean that the entire North Cascades Highway would be closed from Sedro-Woolley eastward. And that tidbit has already made the papers. The WA State DOT is sending out disclaimers. It's just the section where the traffic round is being installed that is closed. See two photos below.

The McGargile Road is also torn up and being refitted with sidewalks, curbs, a bike trail, and resufacing. This has caused a major detour for people who live north of Highway 20 towards the old Northern State Hospital. McGargile is the road that goes east off of Highway 9, just past Cascade Middle School and past Evergreen Elementary. It connects with Fruitdale Road at the east end. It is all but impassable for the locals. Below is a photo, taken from where Carter Road intersects with McGargile. There is also road work on Fruitdale between McGargile and Highway 20. You can imagine the creative routes that local folks need to take to get to work and back every day. When all is done, kids will have a much safer way to walk and bike to school.

BTW, Federal stimulus money is paying for part of both of these road projects.

Skagit State Bank at Ferry and Murdock Streets is getting a big facelift and some office space changes inside. Big project - the rock surface had to be removed and staged for reuse, then all the construction completed. The bank has been open during everything - the folks who work there are good sports, but I will tell you that going inside is like going into the Bat Cave. It's kind of exciting. See photo below taken from their drive thru point.

Just north of the bank on Murdock, the same contractor is building a large commercial building of some kind. I don't know who will be in it. I should be nosier, I guess. Photo below.

Finally, we had some work done on our front porch to replace the decking and some walls on this 111 year-old structure. Every so often you need to replace old wood. See photos. And next door, at the home formerly owned by the Foss family, the entire front porch is being replaced. No photo..

There are other projects going on around town, racing toward finish to beat the turn of the weather. We're scheduled for sunny, warm days through about next Friday. Then some rain and maybe our lawns will green up!

Highway 20 in front of Les Schwab.

Highway 20 - detour at the new traffic round (no, I'm not driving on the wrong side).

On Carter Rd. looking north to McGargile.

Skagit State Bank remodel.

New construction on Murdock, north of Skagit State Bank.

Freshening up the front porch.

Fine work by Wild Ass Milling and Construction.