ISSAQUAH, Wash. — Crews are working day and night to stabilize a hillside on Northwest Talus Drive in Issaquah after road buckled about a week and a half ago.
"I think part of the reaction people are having and all the venom that's coming out is a bit of pent up frustration with the city," said Chris Reh, who lives near the hillside.
The city approved plans for a developer to build 90 homes on the land on the side of Cougar Mountain in Issaquah.
Since the ground moved, the city halted construction on the development and crews are working only on stabilizing the land.
"The work that's hapening right now is to stabilize the ground right now to protect utilities. To put contingency plans into place. To keep the road open," said Warren Kagarise, spokesperson for the City of Issaquah.
The city put up a barrier at the bottom of the hill and is removing dirt and water from the hillside to keep it from moving.
Neighbors are fed up with the construction noise near their homes off of Talus Drive because they listen to it day and night.
"It makes me a little angry. I feel like they probably skipped a few steps," said Kenneth Goodrich, who lives at the bottom of the hillside.
Neighbors say crews might be the target of some of that anger.
On Friday, the city says work stopped after someone disrupted a crewmember. Police were called.
Over the weekend, someone knocked over cones and traffic signs. Officers are still searching for the vandals.
Kagarise says he can't speculate if the vandalism, or the confrontation, is a reaction to all of the construction.
However, the city urges people to leave crews to do their work.
"Please allow workers to do their jobs and do not create an unsafe work environment," said Kagarise.
A community meeting on the project will be held Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Issaquah City Hall.
For more details from the city: http://issaquahwa.gov/index.aspx?NID=1708
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