The mood was festive on the morning of Aug. 14, as Redmond Mayor John Marchione and City Council President Nancy McCormick broke ground for the Bear Creek Parkway expansion that will serve as a new “gateway to Redmond,” south of Cleveland Street and west of Leary Way.
Kevin Kelly, who has lived next-door at The Cleveland condominium complex since November, noticed a crowd assembling on the gravel lot and came over to see what all the fuss was about.
“At first, I thought it was some kind of protest,” he laughed.
But he was pleased to discover that the extension will connect the west end of Bear Creek Parkway to the portion of 159th Place Northeast that connects to Redmond Way. A second phase of the project will connect 161st Avenue Northeast to the parkway extension and will include a landscaped garden plaza near a stand of mature trees that is now unofficially called “Redmond Grove.”
Kelly is somewhat of a pioneer in Marchione’s plan to bring more mixed-use buildings into downtown Redmond, with retail on the ground level and housing above — and to make the downtown core more lively and walkable for both residents and visitors.
“The best thing about living here is that I’ve been able to give up my car,” said Kelly. “I love walking to the grocery store, movies and shopping and I ride my bike to Microsoft. It’s a thrill to know the bike trail will be right here.”
Paul Fuesel of the project’s consulting group, KPG, noted, “The Bear Creek extension is critical to the grid that will become downtown Redmond.”
As the project evolves, small streets called “woonerven” will be placed between Cleveland Street and Redmond Way and those long-time one-way streets will be restored to two-way streets.
“Because Redmond Way is a state route (202), we need to study that with them about six months,” Fuesel continued, “but from an economic realization, two-way streets give much more exposure and better access to businesses. Stakeholders have been very excited about this and there’ll be a plaza space, an open, public space adjacent to the grove which will give this area a great look and feel.”
As Marchione spoke to the crowd, he mentioned that “preserving trees is one of the goals of the City Council,” and described other features such as “the trail, sidewalks, water, sewer and storm systems — infrastructure that will allow our vision to come to fruition … balanced with our growth.”
McCormick said she remembered a 1985 special newspaper section about the future of downtown Redmond.
“I said if I could have my way, I’d be able to draw a street grid,” and expressed delight that now, more than 20 years later, she’ll get to see that wish come true.
Mike Kavanaugh, one of several Redmond firefighters who attended the groundbreaking, said the Bear Creek expansion will “make a more efficient route for us — anything that guides us through traffic jams is great, and we get a lot of calls from Redmond Town Center,” just down the street.
The project cost of an estimated $9.4 million is being funded by business tax revenue and through the city’s capital investment program.
For more information about Bear Creek Parkway, contact Lisa Singer, project manager at lsinger@redmond.gov or (425) 556-2726. Construction updates can be found on the city’s Web site at www.redmond.gov/insidecityhall/publicworks/construction/beacreek.asp.
