National Public Works Week

May 21-27-2023

Public works is the thread that connects us all, no matter where we live in the world. Every public works professional strives to improve the quality of life for the community they serve, leading to healthier, happier communities.

The "Connecting the World Through Public Works" theme highlights the way public works professionals connect us physically, through infrastructure, and inspirationally, through service to their communities, whether as first responders, or daily workers carrying out their duties with pride.
Public works connectors help keep communities strong by providing an infrastructure of services in transportation, water, wastewater, and stormwater treatment, public buildings and spaces, parks and grounds, emergency management and first response, solid waste, and right-of-way management. They are what make our communities great places to live and work. Join us in celebrating the quiet work these professionals do that makes life better for all of us. ~ APWA.net

CONNECTING THE WORLD

In collaboration with DKS Associates, the Traffic Operations & Safety Engineer (TOSE) team initiated the planning and implementation of an adaptive signal system for a total of 25 City of Redmond signals located along Redmond Way, Cleveland Street, and Leary Way. TOSE and DKS are collaborating to fulfill the federal fund obligation for this project, which was awarded funds by the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) for its implementation.

The primary objective of this project is to mitigate traffic congestion by enabling these signals to adjust dynamically based on the prevailing traffic volumes across the city and in the downtown area. Eventually, this system has the potential to extend its coverage to a significant portion of the city's major thoroughfares, facilitating safe and efficient movement of traffic between the city center and neighboring communities.

Tosh Creek Watershed Street Sweeping Project

Public Works was awarded a King County WaterWorks grant to increase street sweeping in the Tosh Creek Watershed last year and increased street sweeping began in October 2022.

Activities for this project include:

Increased street sweeping of public roads within the Tosh Creek Watershed from quarterly to monthly from October 2022 through September 2023.
Increased street sweeping within the Tosh Creek Watershed to twice monthly from October 2023 through September 2024.
Data will be analyzed to determine if increased street sweeping improved water quality within Tosh Creek.

The City uses water quality sampling from the Redmond Paired Watershed Study (RPWS) to determine if increased street sweeping within the Tosh Creek Watershed, made possible by the King County WaterWorks grant, will improve water quality.

The City plans to expand the increased street sweeping to the Monticello Creek Watershed later this year. Both Tosh Creek Watershed and Monticello Creek Watershed are city priorities for watershed improvement.

To learn more about the project, visit our website at redmond.gov/ToshCreek

Two Worlds Connected Through Our Mission

It isn't always obvious how Public Works connects and protects so many facets of the City and functions, however, in early May, there came that day.

Earlier in the day, the Stormwater Operations team were notified by our wonderful neighbors at Hopelink that a mama duck and her ducklings were in need of assistance, her six ducklings had fallen down a storm drain. The team didn't waste time strategizing and deploying the rescue mission. After a few tense moments, the team gently hoisted all six ducklings out of the storm drain and were reunited with their mama. Those were some lucky ducks!

Shortly after their duck-rescuing mission, the Stormwater Operations team and staff from the Public Works Environmental Programs, responded to an accident at the intersection of 148th and Redmond Way. An excavator being towed atop a flatbed trailer, toppled over and spilled diesel fuel onto the street which was flowing toward a City storm drain: Staff quickly created a gutter containment berm and deployed petroleum absorbing pads to soak up the spill.

Peters Creek is nearby and it would have only taken minutes for the fuel spill to contaminate the creek, where most likely, our duck friends live.

This day perfectly represented the impact that Public Works staff make every day through their commitment and dedication to the environment and to its habitants, no matter the species.