250 days of construction coming to College Street Northeast. Here’s when the work begins
Lacey City Council has finally awarded a construction contract to extend College Street Northeast to 15th Avenue Northeast, a project that has been decades in the making.
Mayor Andy Ryder said Tuesday he can recall efforts to extend the road when he was a middle school student, but transportation engineer Chris Stolberg, who made the project presentation to the council, said some of the right of way for the project was first dedicated in the 1960s. Lacey became a city in 1966.
“It’s something that people have been talking about forever,” Ryder said. “And I remember way back when, even talking to people in that neighborhood and bringing it up. So it’s great to see progress in Lacey even though it took a little while.”
Construction is slated to begin in March and will last until summer 2026, Stolberg said.
“The primary purpose for this project is to extend College Street from Eighth Avenue Northeast to 15th Avenue Northeast, and as part of that, we’re realigning the intersection with Sixth Avenue Northeast,” Stolberg said. “There’s also a road maintenance component in the project where we’re reconstructing Sixth Avenue and doing a grind and overlay on College Street between Martin Way and Sixth Avenue.”
College Street in that area also will be subject to what Stolberg called a road “diet.”
“So we’re taking it from a four-lane section to a three-lane section (two lanes in either direction with center turn lane) with bike lanes, which will be more appropriate for the level of traffic there,” he said.
Residents should expect some closures in the area, Stolberg said.
College Street between Sixth and Eighth avenues could be closed for up to 60 days, he said.
“We will have to have some closures because there’s quite a bit of grading and utility relocation that needs to take place in there,” Stolberg said.
The city also is working closely with North Thurston Public Schools because North Thurston High School, Chinook Middle School, Envision Career Academy and the district offices all touch either College Street or Sixth Avenue.
“We met with them in October, and we’re going to be including them in the pre-construction meeting and working with them throughout the project,” Stolberg said.
The major road paving near the schools is expected to take place during summer break, he said.
The winning bidder for the $9.48 million project was Active Construction of Puyallup, one of 10 businesses that bid for the work. Active has done a number of projects in the city, including the roundabout at Britton Parkway Northeast at Carpenter Road. The work is partially funded by a $3 million grant from the Transportation Improvement Board, according to city information.
This story was originally published January 22, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
