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Temporary fencing to cordon off the construction
area has been installed around the work area.
A new vehicle turn-around has been constructed near
High Point Elementary to reroute and facilitate traffic from buses
and children being dropped off and picked up at the school.
Tri-State Construction Incorporated of Bellevue, Washington was awarded the
Infrastructure
Contract
for this part of Phase II construction last month and
they have already tackled crucial administrative actions.
“Tri-State has a very thoughtful approach,” said
Tom Phillips, High Point redevelopment manager.
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High Point welcomes
Green Living EXPO
 Don't
miss the Green Living EXPO at High Point on September 16,17,
23 and 24. Located at 32nd Ave. SW and Raymond St. in West
Seattle, the two weekend event will be free and open to the public
from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Visitors will be able to tour
the neighborhood with experts who developed the
innovative community design.
Volunteers are still needed to help at the EXPO.
To volunteer, visit
www.thehighpoint.com and fill out the volunteer form or call
Ciara Stewart at 206-264-7707, extension 7. |
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“They are really
considering the impacts of the construction on the neighborhood and
planning very carefully to minimize disruption.”
Tri-State has met with the school district to go
over safe walking routes for children in the area, has been
communicating with High Point residents and partners and has
organized preconstruction meetings with city-wide agencies.
This month Tri-State and its subcontractors began
asbestos abatement in the existing vacated housing, and will then
follow on with their demolition operation. This activity will take
about six months to complete. As in the first phase of
redevelopment, some materials will be salvaged in the demolition
process.
Tri-State’s other contract responsibilities in this
phase are the site development work, which includes grading,
utilities, streets, sidewalks, traffic signals, landscaping in the
public right of way, and the natural drainage system.
Cynthia Shick, High Point development project
coordinator, explained that much of the work in this phase happens
underground. “The systems underground that serve the public include
layers of important service networks that are often taken for
granted – the sewer system, water supply, storm water system, and
‘dry’ utilities such as cable, phone, gas and power”, said Shick.
“Each system must be designed and constructed to do its own job,
while taking into account that it must be placed alongside all of
the other systems. It makes you really respect what engineers and
contractors working together are able to achieve.”
As seen in the first phase of the construction
at High Point, the second phase will also take a sustainable
approach. Trees original to the neighborhood will be protected and
the natural drainage system will continue throughout the project.
More than 100 mature trees that range in value from $13,000 to more
than $70,000 are being preserved at High Point. Contractors working
in the area agree to pay the value of the trees plus other damage
expenses if they harm them in any way.
Once the infrastructure and utilities work is
completed, construction of the housing can begin. The bid for a
housing construction general contractor is planned to go out to
the public in January 2007, with housing construction
planned to start in the summer. Once that phase of construction begins
it will take approximately two years to complete.
High
Point is Seattle Housing's largest redevelopment site. By the end of
the decade, High Point will have 1,600 new affordable and
market-rate units across its 120 acres. All of the homes at High
Point meet local Built Green™
three-star standards and 150 trees on the original site have been
preserved throughout the redevelopment. High Point's natural
drainage system cleans, cools, and filters stormwater runoff to
Longfellow Creek, which has the highest number of Coho salmon in all
of Seattle's creeks. Four miles of grassy and vegetated swales
enhance the watershed, also preserving the area's water and
ecosystem quality.
For
more information about the redevelopment of High Point,
click here.
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