Traffic, Bridge and Road Closures and the Back

The RV park is taking out trees at a rapid rate.  Three days before the work was supposed to start, a giant poplar went down.  It landed dead center on a brand new 5th wheel.  It still had temporary plates on it.  So tragic.



The laurel next to our site continues its path towards world dominance.  As we do every year, we trimmed it before putting out the slides.  It’s now taller than the RV.



May I complain just a bit?  I know I can be a whiner, but really.  A new Ford dealership is going in somewhere in our vicinity.  The local environmentalists became concerned that oil might leak into a tiny creek and possibly hurt a fish.  Apparently the dealership was considered more threatening than all the water that runs off the roads into the creek when it rains.  So, the creek has been rerouted.  A major road in Issaquah was closed for 6 days to put the culvert in. During this process they removed access to the East Lake Sammamish trail.  Now we will have to ride on sidewalks, and on the street with 50 mph traffic and maniac drivers to get to the trail.  Once we reach the trail, we won’t be able to stay on it for long because they’re repaving a paved three mile stretch, and they still haven’t started on the gravel section.  I would very much like to talk to their project manager about scheduling.



To leave the RV park, we have to turn on this street.  Good luck with that!



There is also the Southeast 62nd Street project.  It’s a new road, which really decreased traffic jams in Issaquah.  Unfortunately, it’s now closed, and will be closed until 2019.  In the meantime, traffic volumes are just unbelievable.  We’ve returned to the practice of using the freeway to get across town. 

So we thought we’d go ride the Carnation loop.  Nope!  This is a brand new bridge.  King Country tells us this:

King County’s structural engineer reviewed the work of the private firm that designed the Tolt Hill Bridge. The County discovered discrepancies between the design calculations for the bridge and the plans provided by the private firm to the builder for construction. While an investigation continues, the bridge will be closed beginning at 8:00PM on Friday, June 16 for an indefinite time to design and implement repairs.

OK, I get it, no trucks on the bridge.  Couldn’t they have left it open to bikes and pedestrians until they start work?  No, no they could not.  Anyway, there’s not even a guess as to how long this will be closed.  Needless to say, traffic volumes on the alternative route are just horrific.



There is a gravel trail we can ride on to get into Carnation – but I really hate gravel roads with skinny tires.  I think I’m just going to have to get over that.



This is in Renton.  More roads dug up!  This is the route to our doctors’ offices.



We’ll be traveling this route more than once this summer.  Since June 27, Jim has had pain radiating down the back of his left leg and down his calf.  It’s just excrutiating.  Sleeping is very difficult since rolling over is like being stabbed with knives.  An x-ray reveals that there is displacement of the L4 and L5 vertebrae.  This causes the disc to press on the nerve roots which causes the pain.  The impingement is severe enough that it’s causing foot drop when he walks.  Suffice it to say, we are devastated by this development.  He was finally recovered from the Achilles and now this.  There will be an MRI on Thursday and then a followup with the doctor.  I don’t know what the next steps are.  Getting old just sucks.

So, my advice to you dear reader, is to gather ye rosebuds while ye may.