85th Street paving project detours in place, traffic smooth so far on first day

The major NW 85th Street repaving project began today and so far there are no major traffic disruptions. Eastbound traffic, including Metro buses, is being detoured between 15th Avenue NW and 8th Avenue NW to NW 80th Street. The detour route was put in place after this morning’s commute.

SDOT workers cover up the left turn signal from southbound 15th Avenue NW onto eastbound NW 85th Street.

One of the employees of MidMountain Contractors Inc., who was stationed at the intersection of NW 85th Street and Mary Avenue NW, told me at 9:20 a.m. that traffic was flowing smoothly so far.

The intersection of NW 85th Street and Mary Avenue NW.

A Seattle Police Officer stationed at NW 80th Street and 15th Avenue NW told me at 9:30 a.m. that traffic was flowing normally.

The intersection of 15th Avenue NW and NW 80th Street.

The real test comes this afternoon during rush hour. The project to pave N/NW 85th Street from 15th Avenue NW all the way to I-5 will last until October. The work will be done in phases. Stay tuned to My Ballard for updates.

Here’s the official word from Metro for riders of the eastbound 48 and 81:

Eastbound bus routes (#48 and #81) detoured to NW 80th St

• Catch eastbound route #48 at 15th Ave NW just south of NW 85th St, or at 8th Ave NW and NW 85th St
• Catch southbound route #81 at 15th Ave NW just south of NW 85th St, or at 8th Ave NW and NW 80th St
• No temporary bus stops will be added to NW 80th St in an effort to keep traffic moving along the detour route
• Metro will post rider alerts to notify transit riders of detours and/or temporary bus stop closures