In SDOT’s Capital Projects Division alone, public outreach work is going on for approximately 30 projects currently in design or construction. With a small outreach staff, we are always on the lookout for partnerships that can help us raise awareness.
Following planning during the last quarter of 2010, this month the new SDOT/Puget Sound Energy outreach partnership launched with letters to residents and businesses along Dexter Avenue N, from Fourth Avenue N to Roy Street. The letter asks those considering a conversion from oil to natural gas, for their home or business, to please schedule the work before street reconstruction.
The idea of the letter is to coordinate work to save time and money. To help save taxpayer dollars spent on new construction there is a three-year moratorium on cuts to any newly repaved street. When requesting a permit to do work, such as switching utility fuel sources, you would learn of this moratorium and the fees imposed should one choose to cut into a new roadway during the protected time period. Scheduling work around that window, instead, is much better for all concerned.
The SDOT/PSE letters have also gone out to addresses in the last phase of the 15th Avenue NE reconstruction project. If this pilot outreach partnership proves effective for better coordinating private/public construction it will likely be expanded for use on upcoming projects. If you’ve received an SDOT/PSE letter, let us know what you think so we can continue to improve our outreach efforts!