LYNNWOOD—The Snohomish County Public Works Department cut the ribbon on its 36th Avenue/35th Avenue West Improvement Project in Lynnwood Tuesday, September 9, after 13-years of planning and 18-months of construction. With the completion of the project, drivers, cyclists and pedestrians will now be able to move more freely from 164th Street Southwest to State Route 99 north of Lynnwood.
The mile-long stretch – which crosses Lynnwood city limits and is managed by the City of Lynnwood on the southern side and Snohomish County to the north — allows easier, and safer, access to Everett and beyond, as well as an alternative route to Interstate 5 and State Route 99.
For years many Snohomish County residents used the critical north-south corridor to gain access to the highway/freeway and commercial centers in North Lynnwood.
Prior to construction, the corridor featured one lane in each direction and would routinely see traffic back-ups from vehicles waiting to make left turns into one of the many neighborhoods, businesses or multi-family complexes. There were also stretches of roadway without sidewalks, resulting in people walking on concrete or dirt shoulders.
The newly completed corridor project adds sidewalks, curbs, gutters, bike lanes, and a retention pond, as well as replacing aging stormwater systems, and brand-new paving along 164th Street Southwest to SR99. These improvements were designed to reduce travel delays from left-turning traffic, while increasing mobility for pedestrians and cyclists.
“Residents can now walk or roll on sidewalks or bike lanes continuously from the central part of Lynnwood to 148th Street Southwest,” said Public Works Director Kelly Snyder. “These improvements are expected to provide improved mobility and safety for years to come as population continues to grow in this area.”
The improvement project’s price tag ring in at $11.7 million – which included $2.8 million of utility work. The Public Works Department received most of this through a $4.5 million service transportation program grant, $3.5 million grant from the State Transportation Improvement Board, $3 million assistance from the Public Works Board (from its assistance account), and from mitigation fees which the developers paid for.
The remaining funds came from taxpayers’ property taxes via the county’s road levy.
This project connects to the City of Lynnwood’s existing 36th Avenue West, from 179th Street Southwest to 165th Place Southwest, corridor project which was completed in 2020.
The ribbon cutting ceremony commenced Tuesday afternoon with a few words from Kelly Snyder, Public Works Director, who thanked the Snohomish County Public Works staff, and Alderwood Water and Wastewater District for their continued partnership and support.
Doug McCormick, Snohomish County Public Works Deputy Director, then took the mic to add to Snyder’s list of appreciation, roping in the program planning team, traffic operations, design team, the funding team, right away group, and Geotech survey.
“It takes a whole village within the county and with our consultants to put a project like this together and we can’t be more proud of the whole team to get this whole project out here,” said McCormick.
McCormick also thanked the residents and commuters who use the corridor daily and their tolerance for putting up with the growing pains of construction.
A couple of those residents attended Tuesday’s ribbon cutting including Vivian Greenwood, over 40-year resident of the area, who told the Lynnwood Times she could never predict how wonderful the improvements would be while watching the construction from her window over the last year-and-a-half.
“It’s just really nice to have the road really wide and the four lanes at one point. I think it’s a vast improvement. It also feels a lot cleaner,” said Greenwood.
Greenwood, who rode her bike to the ribbon cutting Tuesday, added that she’s mostly looking forward to the added sidewalks and bike lanes.
Snohomish County Executive Director Ken Klein spoke after McCormick, on behalf of Executive Dave Somers who was unable to attend Tuesday’s ceremony, calling the project “money and time well spent.”
“This project was the result of listening to community feedback about where there would be challenges, where residents had the opportunity to learn about the project and offer feedback about the design during a large public meeting a few years ago,” said Klein. “I want to thank Snohomish County Public Works, and their contractors, for helping make this project a reality and solve problems that have a profound effect on the numerous residents of this area.”
Kathryn Gardow, Chair of the Washington State Public Works Board, followed Klein with a few words of her own, sharing that she has a friend who lives along the corridor who is excited to walk her dog along the sidewalk improvements and have easier access turning out of her driveway.
“We are thrilled here at the Public Works Board for being part of this project,” said Gardow.
The last speaker Tuesday, before the ribbon was ceremoniously cut in front of the Alderwood Water and Wastewater’s upcoming, brand-new, facility, was Ashley Probart, Executive Director at the Washington State Transportation Improvement Board.
“The County was spot on as far as everything they promised they would deliver,” said Probart. “For every project we award I would say about two of our silver medalists come back next year. Over the past 25 years or so the County has been a gold medalist 64 times, representing nearly 70 lane miles of projects representing $130 million. They’re already telling us their next best projects for this year and I’m excited to see what it’s all about.”
Approximately 3% of the State gas tax goes toward the TIB which is then flipped into grants (upward of about $20 million) statewide. It is those funds in which the TIB used to issue its approximately $3 million toward this project.
Also in attendance Tuesday was Snohomish County Councilman and Washington State Representative Sam Low, as well as Alderwood Water and Wastewater Commissioners Patrick Peck and Paul McIntyre with Alderwood Water and Wastewater staff.
“This has been a really long project but a great partnership with the City of Lynnwood, Snohomish County, our state partners at TIB, the Public Works Board, and the federal grant which was approved by the Puget Sound Regional Council,” Rep. Low told the Lynnwood Times. “It’s great for commuters, it’s great for our community. I’m just excited to see people already using it.”
Low serves on the aforementioned Puget Sound Regional Council and is the Assistant Ranking Minority Member of the State Transportation Committee.
Staff from David Evans and Associates, the engineering firm contracted to design the project, were also in attendance during Tuesday’s processions.
According to Project Engineer Todd Nielsen, for the most part construction on the new corridor improvements was smooth sailing, save for unpredicted contaminated soil (from petroleum years ago) and having to acquire about an acre of land from a resident which is now being used as a detention pond – which will be used to store stormwater.
The biggest issue, Nielsen added, was keeping the road open while construction continued and everything that brings with it; i.e. keeping traffic flowing and navigating cars exiting and entering their driveways. The other big challenge was dealing with all of the utilities underground, he continued.
“It’s a big improvement overall,” Nielsen told the Lynnwood Times.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
One Response
I’m glad this was done. Improved paving on 36th Ave W helps a great deal, to someone with nerve damage in my back, so I feel every little bump.
Once you cross 164th, going Northbound, though. 164th, and 36th up til that point, are 35mph. North of 164th, it is 20mph til the end.
That doesn’t alleviate traffic. It creates it.
I drove this last week. Crossed 164th with no one behind me. By the time I reached the turn, by the Chevron (where access to an on ramp to 99 has been blocked off) I had 7 cars behind me. Middle of the day on a Thursday.
Glad for the paving, but access to 99 was made more difficult, and northern 36th traffic will be made worse. Even with turn lanes.
Just an observation.
Now, how about the road that begins at the bank on the western side of the Mall, and goes wsw towards the freeway. You could throw out a hip on that road