Ready or not Snoqualmie Ridge and Lake Alice residents, the road closure of Lake Alice Road for emergency repairs and the ensuing three-week detour through Snoqualmie Ridge neighborhoods starts Monday, October 15th.
200 Lake Alice homes cutoff by the road closure will use the detour daily. King County now says, though, that the number of daily car trips added to Ridge streets during the detour should be about 850; reduced from their initial 1,400 number estimate.
At a community meeting on October 2nd, King County Transportation officials stated they could shorten the detour route through the Heights neighborhood by opening a closed portion of McCullough Street that runs through a parcel of land owned by the Snoqualmie School District.
But in a press release today from the City of Snoqualmie, it appears the temporary opening of McCullough will not be utilized. The release says the possible three-week detour will use the original route, traveling down Carmichael all the way through the Heights neighborhood, impacting 70 Carmichael Street homes. The McCullough option had reduced that number to 29 Carmichael residences. The alternate route is still being considered, though, according to the city.
For now, the detour for Lake Alice residents consists of the Lake Alice emergency connector road (temporarily opened) to Sorenson Street; from Sorenson drivers turn left at Carmichael and travel to Douglas Ave and turn right. Douglas Ave then connects To Snoqualmie Parkway and to I-90.
When repairs are finished on the failing culvert beneath Lake Alice road, the emergency connector road will close until next summer when a new, permanent culvert is installed. That repair will take about three months and the detour route will be used (temporarily) once again.
During detour weeks, the Snoqualmie Police Department will monitor traffic, add patrols and place a radar speed trailer on SE Sorenson Street.
Detour signs and reduced speed limit signs will be added where appropriate. Drivers should anticipate traffic delays and plan accordingly.
For more info on the road repairs and detour route visit the City of Snoqualmie website.