LAKE STEVENS -- The city has taken concrete steps toward building new sidewalks on two streets heavily used by pedestrians.
The City Council has given the go-ahead to start construction in September on a walkway on 22nd Avenue NE from 117th Street NE to 123rd Street NE, at North Lake Middle School. That work is expected to take until the end of October, city administrator Jan Berg said, and is expected to cost about $490,000.
The city also plans to build a walkway up one side of Lake View Drive from the roundabout at Callow Road to 112th Street NE. That work is scheduled to begin in March and take about three months, Berg said. The price tag is currently pegged at $550,000.
People who live in Lake Stevens have told city officials they'd like to have more walkways. Sidewalks weren't built when many homes in the city were constructed, and many of the neighborhoods the city has recently annexed also didn't have sidewalks.
Overall, the city has identified 27 stretches of road that need a new walkway of some kind, with a total price tag of more than $5 million.
The city has $1 million to get started: $400,000 from fees charged to home builders to go to sidewalks around schools in the downtown area; $500,000 in savings resulting from city residents' paying for library service directly rather than it being provided by the city; and $100,000 from the general fund.
The stretch of 22nd was chosen in consultation with the Lake Stevens School District, Berg said.
Lake View Drive, the main east-west route for drivers from Lundeen Parkway to downtown Lake Stevens, has been a source of concern for the safety of pedestrians for some time, Berg said.
Slices of private property along both routes will need to be bought to make room for the walkways, she said. That cost is figured into the estimates.
