A corridor study that began last fall for Issaquah-Hobart Road is expected to finish up this summer with several immediate improvements under its belt, and plans for more far-reaching improvements laid out.

The corridor study, being executed by the King County Road Services Division, is intended to determine what sort of short and long term renovations need to be made in order to increase traffic efficiency and guarantee safety on the road, said Rochelle Ogershok, spokesperson for the King County Transportation Department.

“We really wanted to focus these improvements around an operational and safety perspective, to see what exactly should be done,” she said. “Those efforts are now underway, and we’re making some really good progress so far.”

The study area stretches from Interstate 90 to just south of Black Diamond.

Improvements so far include the installation of traffic cameras at the intersection of Issaquah-Hobart Road and Cedar Grove Road. Drivers can check the footage on the county’s Web site to view traffic conditions, and county traffic engineers are using them to monitor traffic flow in order to cite specific additional improvements needed, Ogershok said.

That intersection, along with the Issaquah-Hobart Road and May Valley Road intersection, is also slated to receive single-controller signals, which Ogershok said can be controlled remotely from the county’s traffic control center. This means that traffic engineers will view live footage of the intersections and accurately adjust the signal timing throughout the day to improve traffic flow.

“This will help us take in to account realtime traffic fluctuations, which will in turn add a safety element,” Ogershok said. “A better performing road becomes a safer road.”

Another intended improvement is the installation of a digital message sign at the intersection of Issaquah-Hobart Road and Southeast Mirrormont Boulevard, to warn drivers of traffic conditions on I-90 and heading into Issaquah.

Both improvements should be complete by this summer, Ogershok said.

The other facet of the corridor study is to consider possibilities for long-term improvements. This means looking as far off as 2030 to develop models of what congestion could look like in the future, and what sort of cost-effective safety projects might need to be undertaken, Ogershok said.

“The longer-term effort isn’t really anything tangible,” she said. “It’s just to get a clearer sense of what traffic might be like.”

The list of necessary improvements was developed through county studies and input from the Interagency Technical Advisory Committee, made up of representatives from the Washington State Department of Transportation, and the cities of Issaquah, Maple Valley, Covington, Black Diamond, and Enumclaw.

The immediate road improvements came at a cost of about $170,000, Ogershok said.