South Sound going development crazy

The Daily O. has a couple articles worth viewing if you're interested in the South Sound's bamboo-paced growth. The first focuses on Yelm:

It’s only going to get busier as more than 1,300 residential units and commercial development are built, including a Lowe’s and a grocery store at an urban village. Developers like the area’s schools, access to other roads and need for apartments and affordable housing.

Some traffic relief is expected in 2008 — plans call for widening Yelm Highway from four to five lanes from Henderson Boulevard to Rich Road — but slowdowns will get worse before they get better.

At least six large projects dot the Thurston County landscape from Henderson Boulevard in Olympia to the eastern reaches of Yelm Highway in Lacey.

The second is a lengthy list of building permits, including the identity of the retailer that will replace Mervyns in Lacey, which has been gutted for months now. Somehow I had missed the news that it's Kohl's, to the tune of $8.3 million and change. Watch construction via webcam here.