Kent City Council looks at 2017 B&O street project list

A $1.4 million plan to install concrete pavement along East James Street between Central Avenue and Jason Street looms as one of the primary city of Kent street projects for 2017.

City staff shared a business & occupation (B&O) and residential street repair project list on June 7 with the City Council, which must approve the work. The city expects to bring in about $7.5 million in B&O revenue next year for street repairs and another $2.5 million from the garbage tax for residential neighborhood roadwork.

“It’s definitely a good list and a good use of the B&O,” Council President Bill Boyce said. “We are beginning to see some of the results, such as Central Avenue (South). Our roads are slowly beginning to look much better.”

The council adopted the B&O tax in 2014 to help pay for street improvements. It also increased the garbage tax to 18.4 percent from 7.8 percent the same year for road repairs.

Crews are repaving much of East James Street this year but plan to do the final one-third mile stretch in concrete at the bottom of the hill to hold up better with the high water table in the area, according to city staff. Concrete is more expensive than asphalt but lasts longer.

City staff also recommends concrete pavement for the intersection of South 212th Street and 72nd Avenue South at a cost of $1 million. A high water table and large amount of truck traffic damages the asphalt intersection.

“The road is rough and in tough shape,” said Joe Araucto, city pavement management engineer, in a report to the council. “When we get a lot of rain, we get a lot of potholes. We want to put in concrete because of the amount of trucks we get at that intersection.”

Other major projects on the 2017 list include $850,000 for sidewalk, walking path and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) improvements. That work would include completion of the missing link on the north side of West James Street between Russell Road and Lakeside Boulevard.

The list includes another $700,000 for a new sidewalk on the east side of Sixth Avenue North between West Meeker and West Smith streets.

Councilwoman Dana Ralph questioned whether a few items on the list meet the initial intent of the B&O tax to repair streets. Those projects include $200,000 for residential traffic calming projects (such as speed bumps and radar signs) and $60,000 for a bridge structural rating report at five bridges – Meeker Street, Frager Road South, Central Avenue, Mill Creek Arch and the Mill Creek Slab.

“Residential traffic calming, walking paths and the bridge rating project, some of those things don’t necessarily fit, and I am requesting we revisit as a group the intent of the B&O,” Ralph said. “We have the ability to broaden that scope, but the scope is creeping and we need to be very intentional in setting what we are actually using the dollars for.”

Ralph said she knows the garbage tax limits residential streets to overlay projects but she added maybe traffic calming installations could fall under that tax.

Ralph said the council’s Public Works Committee also asked that the street project list be distributed to the Kent Chamber of Commerce, the Kent Downtown Partnership and the city’s Neighborhood Councils for feedback.

Boyce asked about the reasons for that request.

“We certainly welcome their comments,” said Dennis Higgins, chairman of the Public Works Committee, in response to Boyce. “We will have the final say. This is much earlier in the season than we have looked at the list before. But it makes sense for grant opportunities. We hope to approve this list by this time next month. We are open to comments.”

Asphalt overlays are planned for numerous neighborhoods, including Misty Meadows, Star Lake Highlands, Seven Oaks, Kent Ridge Estates and Teresa Terrace.