Q&A | I-5 repairs | Monitoring bridges | New sidewalks

Q: Shoreline-area resident Shawn Koch wants to know if there are any plans for Interstate 5 to be resurfaced between Northgate and downtown Seattle, in either direction.

"The road surface is so bad that my coffee often is shaken out of the store cup while driving 60 mph," he said. "When you're driving at a snail's pace and look down at the road surface, it almost looks like cobblestone.

"It seems as if all the panels of concrete have settled independently of each other."

Koch has a nickname for that rocky road: "kidney killer."

A: The state is on track to begin a $21 million project to repair pavement on I-5 between Boeing Access Road in the south and the Snohomish County line in the north. But not until 2009, says state transportation-department engineering manager Cathy George.

Most of the pavement in that section is more than 40 years old, said George. To extend the life of the freeway, the state plans to replace deteriorating concrete and grind down the worst areas of uneven pavement in northbound and southbound I-5 and in the express lanes.

The grinding should slow down the wear and tear, and result in a smoother ride with better traction, says George.

But there's a down side. Drivers can expect weekend and nighttime closures during the work. "We considered joining the panels together with rebar [known as a dowel bar retrofit], but this method is expensive and would have limited effectiveness because many of the panels are badly cracked."

Eventually, says George, the entire roadway will have to be replaced.

Q: Those white boxes visible near Interstate 90 on and offramps just west of the Factoria exit and near the Interstate 405 interchange on the Eastside continue to attract the attention and curiosity of motorists. John Geis of Woodinville is one of them.

From what he can tell, the boxes each have antennas that point in different directions, and Geis wonders if they're powered by some kind of small solar collectors? He's spotted the name "Leica" on the front covers.

A: A few months ago, state Department of Transportation bridge crews installed measuring devices along I-90 bridges near the Mercer Slough at the west edge of Bellevue. Department spokeswoman Meghan Soptich says the boxes Geis has noticed are wireless global-positioning-satellite devices that monitor bridge movement. And that helps the transportation department monitor the bridges, which the department inspects annually.

The boxes — about 24 inches tall, 15 inches wide and 12 inches deep — are attached to steel poles. They collect data more efficiently and streamline the bridge-inspection process, Soptich said, adding: "We will use the information we gather to plan future improvements to keep traffic safely moving on the I-90 bridges."

When a couple other readers asked about those boxes weeks ago, the state explained that nearly two dozen monitors had been installed between Bellevue Way Southeast and Interstate 405, south of I-90.

Bumper notes

• If you have plans to travel east across the state for Thanksgiving, better check your route before you leave. Cayuse Pass along Highway 123 inside Mount Rainier National Park is still likely to be closed as a result of last Tuesday's rockslide.

Federal geotechnical experts have been called in to assess the danger. And if they determine the slope above the highway is too unstable, a contractor will have to be brought in to remove the hazardous rocks. That's not likely to be resolved this week, said Park Superintendent Dave Uberuaga.

Cayuse Pass is a route some Seattle-area motorists take to get to the southeast corner of Mount Rainier National Park and to recreational spots along Highway 12, which is south of the park across the Cascades. Travelers can also use Chinook Pass along Highway 410 to get across the Cascades to Central or Eastern Washington.

Two large rocks are perched above Highway 123 and the ground supporting those rocks is saturated. Several rocks fell onto the highway Tuesday morning. No one was hurt. The road was closed pending more investigation into the rockslide. Highway 123 was closed from Stevens Canyon Road intersection to the Highway 410/Highway 123 junction.

But park visitors can still get to the Grove of the Patriarchs Trail at the Stevens Canyon Road entrance. Stevens Canyon Road remains closed for repairs due to the large landslide from a flood a year ago. Highway 123 is not a heavily traveled highway. Fewer than 1,000 vehicles use the pass daily.

Updated information about Cayuse Pass will be posted online at www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/passes/cayuse, and information will be on a recorded 511 travel information hotline.

• Seattle's transportation department is determined to get started, before the end of this year, on new sidewalks that were promised to the public before voters approved a $365 million transportation levy a year ago.

So, why this end-of-the-year rush?

The department wants to make good on its Safe Routes to School pledge. The Bridging the Gap transportation levy, passed last November, set aside about $2 million a year in funding for Mayor Greg Nickels' safety initiatives, including Safe Routes to Schools, as well as construction of new sidewalks.

Transportation Department director Grace Crunican says the purpose of the Safe Routes to Schools program is to improve safety along designated school walking routes in hopes of enticing parents to walk youngsters to school rather than drive them.

Crews have already started work near Northgate Elementary School, which is in the 11700 block of First Avenue Northeast. It's the first project in the Safe Routes to School program. Next month, the department says a second project will start near Arbor Heights Elementary School, which is in the 3700 block of Southwest 104th Street in West Seattle.

Department spokeswoman Marybeth Turner said nine blocks of new sidewalks already have been installed elsewhere in the city. But those are projects not connected to the Safe Routes to Schools program.

In addition, she said, the equivalent of 13 additional blocks have been repaired.

The department projects that another four blocks of new sidewalks can be finished by the end of this year if weather permits.