Redmond City Council approves Phase One of Funding to rechannelize Bear Creek away from SR520

             Council awards $3,414,472 to KLB Construction to rehabilitate Bear Creek 

 

Background

 

The Bear Creek Rehabilitation project will rehabilitate the lower, channelized part of

Bear Creek starting at the Sammamish River and going upstream on Bear Creek to the

Bear Creek enhancement work previously completed. About 3,000 feet of Bear Creek

will be completely relocated from the mostly straight, channelized “stream” to a

meandering, reshaped and re-planted channel in the existing open space.
 

The project will establish stream buffers consistent with the City’s Critical Areas

Ordinance with allowance for the Washington State Department of Transportation

(WSDOT) “Stage 3” widening of the SR520 freeway adjacent to Bear Creek. The

existing asphalt path will be relocated and augmented with a soft-surface parallel path and

“side-routes” that will allow people to walk over to the stream and to view and interact

with (a much improved) Bear Creek.
 

The rehabilitated overbank areas will address flood conveyance issues and will provide

other habitat improvements.

History   Read More >>

Rehabilitation of lower Bear Creek was identified in the Bear Creek Basin Plan, jointly

completed by the City and King County in 1990. Funding was not available at that time

and this work has been pursued as funding opportunities occurred.
 

Approximately 1996 through 1999, the City worked together with WSDOT when that

agency agreed to provide funding to enhance part of Bear Creek in the vicinity of the

building formally known as Larry’s Market. This project has been successfully

completed and is to be a model for the remaining work to be addressed by the attached

contract.
 

Approximately 1996, the City began to work with US Army Corps of Engineers to

undertake rehabilitation of the remaining lower Bear Creek (which is the subject of the

attached contract). Unfortunately, the Corps’ rehabilitation program (designated 1135

stresses minimum stream improvements, requires an agency agreement which presented

legal issues, and presented very strict and difficult real property issues. While the Corps

would provide 75 percent of the funding for eligible costs, the overall quality of the

Corps' design and accompanying legal and property issues led to mutual agreement to

terminate this joint project effort.
 

September 2008, the City of Redmond and WSDOT entered into an agreement to fully

fund the design and construction of Bear Creek Rehabilitation in coordination with the

“Stage 3” widening of the SR520 freeway adjacent to the creek.

Project Description

The Bear Creek Rehabilitation Package 1 project is located between SR520 and Bear

Creek Parkway, east of the Sammamish River and north of the current Bear Creek

Channel in Redmond.
 

The package 1 project will consist of preliminary grading work to rough grade the

relocated channel. Preliminary grading for the project will also facilitate the

archaeological recovery necessary to mitigate any significant cultural resources found

within the future channel alignment. This initial construction work represents the first of

a three phase process to relocate the creek over the next three summer construction

seasons. The phased approach to the channel construction will reduce the environmental

and cultural resource recovery risks.

Source:  6/4 City of Redmond Consent Agenda