Mile 3a of Aurora Corridor Project Dedicated Monday

During a Monday ribbon cutting, Mayor Keith McGlashan, Shoreline City Councilmembers and project team members touted a safer Aurora Ave. N. from 185th St. to 192nd that's ready for private investment.

Trees, sidewalks and new bus lanes adorn the stretch of Aurora after construction was completed, a year and a half after it began.

The project cost about $15 million total, $11 million in construction and $4 million in design and other costs, said John Vicente, capital projects manager for the city. 

Improvements to this segment are very similar to previous miles of the Aurora Corridor Project, and include delineated driveways, wider sidewalks, landscaped center medians with left- and U-turn pockets, and business access and transit lanes, according to the city.

Two features unique to this segment are the rain garden plaza on the southwest corner of Aurora and N 192nd Street and the “green” retaining walls. Beneath the plaza is a major drainage facility to collect stormwater from Aurora and control the flow of water entering nearby Echo Lake. The “green” retaining walls allow low-maintenance, evergreen and deciduous plant species to grow on and cover the face of the walls.

Some neighbors of the stretch at the Blakely Apartments, a senior living space,a and Echol Lake voiced concerns over the construction citing detour traffic on 192nd and difficulty accessing driveways.

Aurora Rents recently moved from the corner of 192nd and Aurora to a new building on 175th and Aurora.