Road rebuilt early in Preston

Published 9:50 am Thursday, October 2, 2008

A flood-damaged road in Preston was re-opened three weeks early thanks to an accelerated work schedule by the King County Road Services Division and its contractor.

A section of Upper Preston Road Southeast was closed during the week of Nov. 6 following heavy rainfall that caused a portion of the hillside supporting the road to fall into the Raging River – taking more than 300 feet of the southbound lane with it. Since the road is the only access into the Upper Preston community, residents were cut off and had to walk in and out of their neighborhood for several days.

Roads Services Division staff and the contractor, Wilder Construction, built a temporary access road using the south shoulder of Interstate 90 within four days, but travel has been restricted while permanent repairs were made. The county originally thought the new roadway would not be completed until mid-January, but was able to accelerate the work. The total cost of repairs in the Upper Preston area is estimated at approximately $4 million.