The weed-infested, busted-up traffic medians along Pacific Highway South in Kent will get a new look this year.

Crews will tear out the old medians as part of an estimated $1.3 million City Council plan to beautify the nine medians between South 272nd Street and Kent Des Moines Road on the West Hill to help keep and attract businesses.

“The scope of the project is more than just replanting,” said Mark Howlett, city design engineering manager, in an email. “It includes digging out all of the old material in the island, installing a new irrigation system, adding soil and new plants.”

The council approved spending $750,000 this year from the city’s business and occupation tax (B&O) to replant five of the traffic islands as crews start at South 272nd Street and work their way north. City staff plans to bid the project in June with work starting in late July, Howlett said.

“We think that the $750,000 will allow us to complete five of the nine islands,” Howlett said. “Depending on our final cost estimate and the ultimate amount of the bid, we may add or delete the number of islands we do this year.”

City officials had a community meeting last week on the West Hill to talk about the upgraded medians. Crews will junk the old medians that led to many  maintenance problems.

“I would like to stress where we fell short last time is the irrigation got busted up with cars hitting it,” said Scott Schroeder, city field supervisor at the meeting. “Our new design runs the irrigation down the middle of the islands and are buried deeper. The previous plan had irrigation lines along the curb line so the minute a car or truck popped over the curb, it would take out the irrigation lines and they are expensive to repair. We repaired them but then they’d get hit and broken again.”

When repairs slowed down, the medians got uglier. The city installed the medians in 2006.

“The consensus of the council is that these medians need to be upgraded and replanted,” Howlett said.

City staff has recommended mount vernon laurel, blue star juniper, white rockrose and concorde barberry as potential plants to grow in the medians.

“It’s a good selection of plants that are hardy and have the ability to withstand exhaust of cars and the hard conditions they are going to be put into out there,” Schroeder said.

The medians will feature rock-covered areas on each tip with flowering plants covering the rest of it.

One resident asked if the city would be doing a better job of maintenance once the new medians are installed and planted. Schroeder admitted the areas have been referred to as “weedians” because of the numerous weeds.

“We have designated personnel assigned to these islands, so maintenance will be on a routine basis,” he said. “They’ll do weeding, pick up litter and any pruning if we go with any tree options.”

View Larger Map