EVERETT – A bridge to nowhere finally should lead somewhere by summer’s end.
A pedestrian overpass spanning I-5 just north of 128th Street SE has stood unused since it was built last year.
Following use-it-or-lose-it federal grant rules, state officials built the $2 million bridge last summer but without ramps connecting it to the Interurban Trail.
Those ramps and a half-mile of trail were not built at the same time because Snohomish County could not secure the right of way it needed on the east side of the bridge.
With negotiations for access stalled, state and county officials last month started looking for money to build a temporary trail connection that would allow them to open the bridge.
Without such a plan, the overpass would not open until next year at the earliest, forcing bicyclists and pedestrians to continue crossing I-5 on narrow and crowded 128th Street.
Scrounging around for cash, county officials came up with $500,000 in unspent trail money, said Steve Thomsen, county public works director.
The money became available when transportation officials underestimated how much federal transportation grant money the Puget Sound region was expected to get. Some dollars became available when those grant-funded transportation projects finished under budget.
The next step is another round of public review. Last week a key group reviewed and approved the county’s proposal to spend the $500,000 on getting the overpass open this year. The whole project is expected to cost $4 million.
“It’s great news,” Thomsen said. “It’s a good use for it. That’s a key missing link of trail.”
An estimated 150,000 people use the Interurban Trail per year, including many bike commuters, according to county figures.
The trail starts at 41st Street SE and Colby Avenue in Everett and follows I-5 south to near Shoreline.
Last week’s recommendation by members of the Infrastructure Coordinating Committee, a subcommittee of Snohomish County Tomorrow, has to be approved two more times before the state is given the money.
Last week’s vote was the key, because the other two boards that still need to vote on it – Snohomish County Tomorrow and the Puget Sound Regional Council – routinely approve the working group’s recommendation if there’s no controversy.
“There’s no controversy,” said Russ East, assistant regional administrator for the state Department of Transportation in Snohomish and King counties. “We’re real comfortable going into the project now.”
Construction likely will start in late summer and end by October, East said.
The temporary trail segment will hug the edge of the freeway, connecting the bridge to 128th Street SW, East said.
It can’t be the permanent route because the state will need the land to rebuild and expand the 128th Street SW overpass. That project is not planned for at least another 10 years.
The county has been unable to secure right of way east of I-5 because it has taken the property owner longer than expected to develop the property, said Bobann Fogard, the county’s transportation and environmental services division director.
The county plans to require that the property owner give it an easement as part of getting approval for the building permit, she said.
Reporter Lukas Velush: 425-339-3449 or lvelush@heraldnet.com.
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