Culvert replacement jams traffic in Lake Forest Park

Bothell Way

Text and photos by Jerry Pickard

This is the weekend that Bothell Way is shut down for a major modification.

The culvert under Bothell Way has needed replacement for many years as it was too small to handle the stormwater runoff and frequently flooded the shopping center stores and lower parking lot.

It also was a bottleneck for migrating salmon.

Culvert construction

Construction started Friday evening and will continue until 6:30am Monday morning unless the project is completed sooner.

The section of Bothell Way between Brookside Boulevard and Ballinger Way is closed to all traffic.

Northbound traffic on Brookside detour

This has caused a major headache for locals and commuters alike.

Entrance to mall from Ballinger Way

Police have been placed at all stations of the detour to keep traffic flowing smoothly.

Eastbound on 178th

Saturday afternoon it was taking a minimum of a half hour to navigate the detour up Brookside Boulevard to NE 178 and then over to Ballinger Way and then down to Bothell Way again.

McAleer Creek was diverted during construction

McAleer Creek was diverted from the creek bed and pumped past the work site before being returned to the creek bed again.

The new culvert is in place already and sits many feet lower than the old culvert did. The creekbed is also being widened to accommodate storm flow during winter storms.