Greenwood Avenue project drags on

Q: For the past 10 months, a private Seattle contractor working for the city has been revamping Greenwood Avenue North between North 105th and North 112th streets — a roughly $7 million project that includes widening the four-lane street to accommodate a landscaped median as well as left-turn pockets at four intersections.

The project, which also calls for signal- and street-lighting upgrades and storm-drain improvements, has had its share of traffic congestion, lane closures, detours, parking restrictions and, we dare say, construction noise and dust.

The work was supposed to be finished by the end of last year. But it's still a work in progress. And it's causing lots of gripes.

Greenwood-area resident Brian Martin was hoping the project would create a fifth lane — a designated left-turn lane — to improve traffic flow. Instead, there are still two lanes in each direction, separated by planters with trees.

"This is not going to help traffic congestion at all," he lamented, "and will likely do just the opposite as the trees grow and further obstruct visibility."

There have also been complaints about revisions for southbound Greenwood traffic turning right onto Holman Road Northwest at the intersection with North 105th Street.

"I'm sure there are legitimate reasons for doing this, but it also reduces options for those drivers like me who move from lane to lane to get around slower-moving traffic," said resident Eric Bell.

North Ballard resident Sheldon Sather simply wants to know when the project will be done, and whether the contractor, Gary Merlino Construction, will be penalized for the lengthy delay.

A: While Greenwood Avenue North is now about 11 to 12 feet wider between North 105th and North 112th streets because of the new center median/left-turn lane, there are still the same number of travel lanes.

Michael Ward, the Seattle Transportation Department's supervising project manager for capital projects, said the work is in its final stages, "substantially complete," with only minor tasks remaining.

Ward said delays were unavoidable: "During construction, crews encountered some unforeseen underground obstacles that slowed the work, the project scope was expanded to upgrade the storm-drainage system, and the city also upgraded to concrete in the outside lanes instead of asphalt."

There also were some weather-related delays, he said. So the city is not blaming the contractor.

Josh Stepherson, a project spokesman, said two community meetings and discussions with property owners, businesses and residents persuaded the city to install the landscaped median and left-turn lane between North 107th and North 112th streets to improve safety. There have been a lot of accidents along that stretch, he said.

A new pedestrian crossing and signal on Greenwood at Holman Road also resulted from citizen requests, according to the Transportation Department.

A traffic analysis, according to the department, indicated most southbound vehicles on Greenwood turn west onto Holman Road, so that's why there are now two right-turn lanes.

The department says the type and spacing of trees in the center median should allow for ample visibility across the median. The center turn lane between North 105th and North 107th streets is designed to allow drivers to directly access businesses along Greenwood Avenue.

Department spokesman Rick Sheridan is optimistic. He said workers should be out of there by the end of March.

Q: Marci Spear's vehicle tabs are about to expire, but she hasn't received a renewal notice in the mail. She says when she took her vehicle for an emissions test, she was told others have complained, too.

Her driver's license expires soon, and she hasn't received that renewal form in the mail, either. She says she hasn't changed her address or her vehicle.

"The fines for having either or both being expired can get extreme," she says, and expiration dates can easily be overlooked. "Is this a ploy to get more money for the state?"

A: Department of Licensing spokesman Brad Benfield said the state still sends out renewal notices for vehicle tabs or driver licenses. "We certainly are not purposely withholding renewal notices to cause people to get tickets," he said.

The department's customer-service center (staffed weekdays from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., except 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursdays) can check mailing addresses for renewal notices and might be able to help figure out what happened. The phone number is 360-902-3900.