July 28, 2025 4:35 pm

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Lynnwood cuts ribbon on College Place Improvement Project; a safer route to schools

LYNNWOOD—The City of Lynnwood said goodbye to its last gravel road Monday as Mayor Christine Frizzell and City staff cut the ribbon on the College Place Improvement Project – which will allow safer access for drivers, residents, and students of the nearby elementary and middle schools.

Lynnwood Mayor Christine Frizzell cuts the ribbon on the College Place Improvement Project with the assistance of a few College Place Elementary students. Also pictured: Lynnwood City Council members Derica Escamilla, Josh Binda, George Hurst, David Parshall, former Lynnwood City Council member Jim Smith, Public Works Director Jared Bond, and Program Manager Mike Wayley. Photo: Kienan Briscoe, Lynnwood Times

“Safety is paramount for our city and our community. You want and deserve to feel safe in your community, whether you’re out walking, biking, hopping on Community Transit Orange line to shop the mall, take the light rail, driving around running errands or taking your kids to school,” said Mayor Frizzel. “The completion of this project will make our community more accessible with ADA compliant ramps and improved sidewalks.”

The College Place Improvement Project updates the single lane gravel road leading to College Place Elementary, on 204th Street Southwest and 76th Avenue West, with full resurfacing, installation of new HMA pavement, curb and gutters, sidewalks, ADA-accessible ramps, and extended stormwater infrastructure.

Stormwater improvements throughout the College Place Improvement Project. Photo Source: City of Lynnwood

A traffic light was also installed at the intersection of 76th Avenue West and 204th Street Southwest along with rapid rectangular flashing beacons across 208th Street to increase pedestrian safety near school crossings.

The project also created a new driveway access, leading directly to College Place Elementary, to streamline parent drop-off/pickup, traffic, and reduce congestion on the side streets.

Crews forming sidewalks on the intersection of 76th and 204th. Photo Source: City of Lynnwood.

Back in 2019 Lynnwood residents Emily and Scott Cornish, who live just right across the street from College Place Elementary, grew tired of looking out their window and seeing frequent collisions and traffic. As parents of three children (who now attend College Place Elementary) they also grew worried about their kids’ safety traveling to, and from, school.

Emily knew former Lynnwood City Councilman Jim Smith from her work at Aegis Assisted Living Shoreline, where Smith was playing music with his band, and asked him if there was anything he could do as her representative.

“I told Jim I was really tired of this gravel road, it’s not safe and it’s kind of a mess. So he got the ball rolling,” Emily Cornish said. “It’s our community and we wanted it to be safe. There were no sidewalks, it was so dark, there were a ton of trees here and people would park within the trees – it was just a mess.”

Cornish added that before the City installed a traffic light it would be impossible to turn left on 76th because there was cross traffic, especially during after school hours.

Emily’s husband, Scott, added that throughout the three, and a half, years of construction it was loud and difficult to deal with but, now that it’s finished, the result was worth the headache.

“In the end it’s a really big improvement and it’s a really big improvement to our yard as well,” said Scott. “The only thing I miss are the big, tall trees we had on this street. They cut down about 25 trees on this street, but besides that the positives outweigh the negative and that’s really the only negative.”

One of the biggest hurdles the Cornish family had to deal with is having to relocate their driveway further down the road from the intersection, but Scott said the city provided some funding and worked in close cooperation to help make it happen.

The design phase for the project began in January 22 with construction beginning April of 2024. The total price tag of the project ended up costing over $3.4 million – about a third of which was paid for by a WSDOT Safer Routes to Schools grant. The remaining costs were covered through some American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars, as well as transportation benefit district funds (which are generated by vehicle tabs and sales tax revenue).

The engineering and construction firms contracted out were Perteet and OMA Construction, respectively.

At Monday’s ribbon cutting ceremony Lynnwood’s Public Works Director Jared Bond opened with a few words about the project, sharing that it was “challenging,” but a “community-focused” effort reflecting the diverse needs of those who would use it.

Public Works Director Jared Bond sharing a few words at Monday’s ribbon cutting. Photo: Kienan Briscoe, Lynnwood Times

“I know it may seem obvious, but this is a great project. It took a lot of work, a lot of coordination, collaboration, to pull this off,” said Bond. “So it’s important to take a moment like this to celebrate that offer.”

As the last gravel road in the City of Lynnwood, each year the Public Works team would have to degrade the road and add more gravel, Bond continued.

The design phase implemented online surveys, open houses (both in-person and virtual), community discussions, public feedback, and taking into consideration the community’s priorities. Bond said the project would not be made possible without the partnership of the Public Works team, Edmonds School District, City of Edmonds, South County Fire, and the Department of Transportation.

“Emphasis on this was really safety for drivers, pedestrians, emergency responders, and school access,” said Bond.

Mayor Frizzell, who followed Bond with some remarks of her own, said the project is testament to the City’s commitment to a safer, more sustainable, place.

Lynnwood Mayor Christine Frizzell speaking at Monday’s ribbon cutting. Photo: Kienan Briscoe, Lynnwood Times

The City of Lynnwood’s Engineer, David Mach, then followed Mayor Frizzell to explain the “ins-and outs” of the project. Prior to the project’s completion, Mach described a student drop off/pickup process that could only be described as “chaotic.”  

“Parents would park across the street, they would park on the other side of the street, cars were back up every which way and neighbors were upset because people would park alongside their driveways, but I feel like we did a good job at addressing a lot of those issues,” said Mach. “It’s a huge improvement over what we had before.”

City Engineer David Mach speaking at Monday’s ribbon cutting. Photo: Kienan Briscoe, Lynnwood Times

Mach noted that over the course of the project the City removed approximately 100 dump trucks worth of dirt, 50 dump trucks of asphalt, and 400-feet of pipe.

Also in attendance at Monday’s ceremony was Lynnwood City Council members David Parshall, Joshua Binda, George Hurst, Derica Escamilla, and former Lynnwood City Council member Jim Smith.

The College Place Improvement Project officially completed back in May. From then until July the City has been working on completing final tasks such as landscaping, fencing, signal pole installation, and traffic control. As of Monday, July 21, the corridor is now fully functional and safer for students, residents, and drivers.  

Kienan Briscoe
Author: Kienan Briscoe

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