Project signs are up, announcing the start of construction for the new traffic signal on 166th Avenue Northeast at Northeast 104th Street in front of Redmond Junior High School.

Work begins at the intersection on Monday, Sept. 8 and will continue for approximately the next 10 weeks. It is estimated the traffic signal will be in operation by Thanksgiving.

This long-awaited intersection improvement, funded by a Federal Safe Routes to School grant, is expected to improve safety for the high volumes of school-aged pedestrians who walk to Redmond Junior High, Horace Mann Elementary and Norman Rockwell Elementary.

In addition to the new signal, 166th Avenue Northeast, south of Northeast 104th Street will be converted from four to three lanes. While several downtown Redmond streets already have been successfully converted, the counter-intuitive nature of this type of roadway reconfiguration can cause controversy in the driving community. Following an extensive public meeting process earlier this year, gathering comments from Education Hill residents, the project is moving forward with almost 70 percent community support.

Construction on 166th Avenue Northeast at Northeast 104th Street will close one corner of the intersection at a time. Each closure should take about two weeks. Pedestrians will be directed to temporary crossings by construction flaggers and crossing guards. Most of the delays around the construction site are expected during the morning commute, so drivers are advised to take alternate routes when possible.

For more information about this project, contact Tricia Thomson at (425) 556-2776 or tthomson@redmond.gov. For construction updates, check the City of Redmond’s project Web site at www.redmond.gov/connectingredmond/projects/edhill.asp