Traffic backs up during peak commute times last Wednesday along 348th Street near the intersection of Highway 99. The seven-month project will add two HOV lanes - one to both the east and west-bound sides of 348th - in order to improve the flow of traffic through the busy interchange. Photo by Seth Bynum.
Commuters along the 348th Street corridor will have to endure longer wait times and tolerate more backups as the city works to complete its remedy for Federal Way's growing pains.
During a lunch-break rush last week, drivers occasionally backed up into the 348th Street and Highway 99 intersection as they attempted to navigate the one-lane bottle neck of west-bound traffic in the area.
They weaved through a maze of orange cones and construction workers, with a few offering frustrated honks and glares directed to the men and women in hard hats and blaze orange vests.
But for those commuters convinced the city intends to change its motto to from "It's all within reach" to "Lane closed; merge right," relief is on the way.
One of the city's currently active capital improvement projects, this undertaking - when completed - promises to ease the flow of traffic during peak commute times.
According to the city, the project calls for an expansion of the existing roadway from five lanes to seven.
The new traffic pattern will utilize two multi-purpose lanes in both the east- and west-bound directions, as well as a single HOV lane for carpoolers and transit in each direction.
The city's plan calls for a landscaped median with established turn lanes that will double as U-turn lanes as well.
Travel along 348th will improve for foot traffic as well.
The city's project has many provisions designed to make the city core more pedestrian friendly.
For one, new curbs and sidewalks will parallel 348th uniformly on both sides of the thoroughfare.
And in the same vein as the sidewalk beautification measures used farther north along Highway 99, 348th Street will use a landscaped buffer between the curb and sidewalk in spots. The landscaping will include trees, according to the city.
The project calls for another major aesthetic improvement, namely the burial of all utility cables except for high voltage lines. The remaining lines will be rerouted to new poles on the north side of 348th.
Local firm Westwater Construction, headquartered in Auburn, received the contract for the project.
Westwater's work began in early March. According to the city, crews should wrap up the overhaul by October 2008.
