Along state and interstate highways across the state of Washington, work is being done to remove fish barriers and restore streams to their natural ecological processes. Site analysis is informing designs to reestablish aquatic habitats and honor the right to take fish guaranteed to the Northwest Washington Tribes.
Puget Sound Site Analysis to Restore Streams and Deliver Fish Passage Design
With sites throughout the Puget Sound region, a uniquely assembled team continues work in developing Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Preliminary Hydraulic Design (PHD) on the way to the Final Hydraulic Design (FHD) in restoring fish passage at roadway crossings. Topographic data and survey are being used to build hydraulic modeling – using SRH-2D (H&H analysis) to characterize existing and future conditions in the field. From scour analysis to stream channel slope and alignment, an assessment of prevailing geomorphic processes is central to the structure design and established construction methods. In restoring aquatic habitat for ESA-listed Salmonids, fish presence and habitat evaluation guides plan for improved wildlife connectivity. As part of a general engineering contract (GEC) team, Otak collaborates closely with all project stakeholders and co-managers, including the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and Northwest tribes to develop designs in accordance with Water Crossing Design Guidelines and WSDOT’s Hydraulics Manual.
Enhanced treatment of highly-polluted highway stormwater runoff is accomplished across 19 acres with the unique design of this water treatment facility. In developing the city of Redmond’s Basin Surface Water Master Plan, the facility addresses water quality for what flows into its stormwater trunk extension using a custom pump and distribution system.
A Unique Water Treatment Facility Utilizing Bioretention for Highly-Polluted Stormwater Runoff
Located alongside the busy highway, SR 520, a unique pump system diverts stormwater runoff through a custom soil mix and vegetated facility designed for biofiltration before eventually reaching the outfall at Lake Sammamish. The resulting bioretention maintains treatment function over time as a custom steel distribution system spreads flow evenly to optimize the footprint across the facility and prevent scouring. Data collected to inform the Basin Surface Water Master Plan was used to identify the optimal location for capturing polluted runoff while continued monitoring refines the runoff model and better defines pollutants. An integrated approach including landscape architecture focused on urban design led to a facility that resembles a leaf. Otak also supported the city in obtaining an ecology grant for the stormwater retrofit by building a report that demonstrates how the facility would function and how the water quality benefits would benefit the community.
Adding seismic resilience and capacity to serve a growing community, the Benton County Courthouse and Emergency Operations Center would be developed as two buildings on a 20-acre greenfield site. As owner’s representative, Otak has provided leadership on this project through significant permitting and land use processes in each step of bringing this concept into reality.
Streamlining Multiple Project Phases to Improve Community Facilities
Across approximately 48,892 square-feet over three stories, the new Benton County Courthouse is designed to support multiple essential community functions. Development of this greenfield site (with no existing infrastructure) required extensive master planning, including space for sufficient public parking as well as secure staff parking. With four courtrooms, jury deliberation and assembly spaces, among other offices, the design also incorporates safe circulation for judges, victims and other user groups outside the courtroom. The new Emergency Operations Center is a 7,490 square-foot facility that adds multiple rooms for training, search and rescue, and space for other emergency activations. That building utilizes a pre-engineered metal building (PEMB) structure to optimize the project budget.
As part of efforts to improve affordable housing for the communities of Vancouver, Washington, The Elwood adds 58 low-income-housing units to a previously undeveloped 0.80-acre site. In leading the civil design from schematic design through final site planning, Otak also prepared various project permitting submittals.
Complete Site Civil Design Components to Improve a Community’s Affordable Housing
Located on NE Fourth Plain Blvd near the intersection with NE 62nd Avenue, The Elwood consists of five, three-story wood framed buildings that include a total of 58 multifamily residential units. A number of site improvements in the design include access from NE Fourth Plain Blvd, onsite parking and circulation, utilities and landscape. Public right-of-way improvements were focused on the installation of new street trees along the frontage of the project site. Project permitting submittals covered the Type II Land Use Application, the City Engineering Submittal, and the Underground Injection Control registration, while a trip trip generation and distribution report was also completed as required by the city.
To increase safety in the area around Tualatin Elementary School, improvements were designed to reduce barriers for students walking and biking to school. In developing the final design, Otak incorporated feedback from an extensive public involvement process that identified infrastructure needs in the area.
Adding Safe School Routes with Multimodal Transportation
With a focus on safety, this portion of the Tualatin Moving Forward bond program adds multimodal options for students and other members of the community. The final design includes various project elements from road widening and a new sidewalk to a rectangular rapid flashing beacon (RRFB) pedestrian crossing, ADA ramp improvements, and traffic calming devices. Traffic congestion during pick-up and drop-off times was improved by adding a dedicated left turn lane by modifying an existing traffic signal and re-striping of existing lanes. The road adjacent to Tualatin Elementary was re-striped to narrower lanes, helping to slow traffic speeds and allowing the project to add a bike lane as well as on-street parking. A new stormwater planter treats runoff created by new impervious surfaces.
As part of an effort by regional government Metro to identify and acquire parcels of land that present opportunities to protect and restore ecologically significant greenspaces, this natural area along Beaver Creek in the east suburbs of Portland, Oregon is enhanced to benefit local ecology and the surrounding community. In leading the restoration design, Otak took a unique approach using a 2D no-rise analysis and helicopter placement of large wood that aimed to provide new habitat and return the watershed to a more naturally functioning state.
Adding Channel-Spanning, Large Log Root Wads to Restore a Stream’s Floodplain
Flowing directly into the Sandy River – a tributary to the Columbia River – Beaver Creek provides important habitat for salmonids, including endangered Coho Salmon, as well as lamprey. This site contains two crossings where small culverts historically didn’t allow the transport of large wood and sediment into the reach that would naturally occur, limiting in-stream habitat conditions for rearing juvenile salmonids and the ability of Beaver Creek to fully express itself in the watershed. Following the replacement of those culverts, this project was designed to jump start the habitat creation process and provide immediate refugia for salmonids. The project also removed a mid-reach fish barrier – an abandoned concrete flashboard weir – that yielded shallow sheet flow conditions during summer months and high velocity flow in the winter, both challenging situations for fish. Using multiple channel-spanning large wood structures provides opportunities for beaver to add dams, the creation of scoured pools for salmonid habitat, and an overall more complex system where new channels can form and potentially reactivate old flood paths. In support of the floodplain permitting process, 2D hydraulic modeling helped ensure an understanding of site parameters and identify wood placement locations, while also making the permitting process feasible.
With the primary focus of enhancing the roadway while making it more pedestrian and bicycle friendly, improvements along Boones Ferry Corridor were also designed to account for identified ADA deficiencies. As part of the Tualatin Moving Forward bond program, Otak served as the lead design engineer for improvements to this 2-mile corridor in Western Oregon.
A Practical ADA-Focused Design for Pedestrian and Bicycle-Friendly Corridor Improvements
While avoiding a full construction of Boones Ferry Road, the project provides practical, cost effective solutions to address bike and pedestrian deficiencies found scattered throughout the corridor. Initial analysis found gaps in bike lanes, deteriorated asphalt paths, and non-compliant curb ramps along the corridor that stretches south from Tualatin Sherwood Road to Norwood Road. Along with road widening to provide continuous bike lanes and sidewalk improvements, the multi-phase project also makes improvements to greenway paths, pavement, stormwater conveyance, traffic signals, signing, striping, and landscape. The final design of the project also retrofits curb ramp to bring existing facilities up to current ADA standards. In total, ramps are replaced at 33 corners, including four signalized intersections with pedestrian push button improvements. To further enhance pedestrian safety, the design adds two pedestrian activated rectangular rapid-flashing beacons (RRFBs) as well as pedestrian lighting along a greenway path adjacent to Boones Ferry Road. The design of the project overcame challenges including steep slopes for ramps, right-of-way constraints, and numerous utility conflicts.
In an effort to increase traffic capacity at Martinazzi Avenue and Sagert Street in Tualatin, Oregon, a redesign of the intersection was initiated to improve operations. In leading the conceptual and final design, Otak also supported the broader project team with alternatives analysis, utility coordination and design during construction to bring the concept to completion.
Improving Intersection Operations with a Multimodal Design
Originally a four-way-stop, updating this intersection to a traffic signal was designed to alleviate congestion. With an added focus on pedestrian and bicycle safety, the project is also part of the Tualatin Moving Forward bond program, where transportation projects across the city prioritize congestion relief, neighborhood safety, and access to public assets. In meeting these goals, the project includes the widening of Sagert Street to include buffered bike lanes and widened sidewalks as well as ADA ramp improvements. Right-of-way acquisition and utility relocations were also necessary in bringing this design to reality.
Located at a prominent corner lot of downtown Vancouver, Washington, the 13 West Apartments adds 96-units of housing to the city’s central business district. The project builds on a long history with DBG in developing affordable housing facilities throughout the northwest.
Affordable Housing meets Multimodal Access
A key aspect to 13 West is it’s specific location. It is sited in a downtown employment district proximate to both private and public sector jobs. Residents can easily walk or bike to work and also have easy access to mass transit and nearby social services in the neighborhood. The 5 story building’s ground floor includes a corner entry, community room, and management office. Accentuating the area’s multimodal accessibility is a secured bike storage, two live/work spaces, and tuck under covered parking that’s concealed in the rear with alley access.
To improve road maintenance operations and the safe processing of household hazardous waste, the Kitsap County Department of Public Works aimed to update its existing facilities. The design adds a number of new facilities across 16 acres – including a 18,500 square-foot administration building – from a more central location to better protect the environment and serve the community.
Facilities Designed for Road and Waste Operations that Protect the Environment and Community
Dating back to the 1920’s and 1950’s the original Kitsap County facilities had grown obsolete with inadequate storage space for necessary equipment and significantly increased traffic volume. With over 900 miles of roadway to preserve and maintain, the new facilities are designed to more efficiently operate a number of programs from surface treatment and snow removal to vegetation management to street sweeping. Included in the design are multiple vehicle maintenance shops, a vehicle wash and fuel station, as well as 9,600 square-feet of covered canopy for parking and storage among other road maintenance focused features. The addition of a 7,600 square-foot facility will also improve the county’s ability to collect and package household hazardous waste from a more central location, creating greater access for residents. In leading the preliminary and final design, Otak also conducted internal and external stakeholder engagement, site plan alternatives analysis, permit acquisition, and preparation of environmental review documentation in bringing these new assets to the community.
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