New, safer path in Arlington
Published 11:00 pm Tuesday, June 16, 2009
ARLINGTON — Federal economic stimulus money will help fund a safe passage for children on 188th Street NE.
People who walk, skate or bike between the Centennial Trail on 67th Avenue NE and the Arlington Airport walking trail on 59th Avenue NE now travel on a busy commercial street that lacks sidewalks.
Kids headed to ball games at Evans Field and Quake Memorial Field, the Arlington skate park and Arlington Boys &Girls Club — all on 59th Avenue NE — are especially vulnerable in the traffic, city officials said.
The city recently received a $122,000 federal grant to build a pedestrian walkway, called the 188th Street Trail, on the north side of the street. An additional $25,000 from Arlington’s traffic mitigation coffers will help pay for the paved trail.
The 188th Street Trail project is part of the city’s transportation capital improvement program. About 2,500 linear feet of 10-foot-wide porous asphalt will make up the trail. The cost includes curbs and drainage work.
“I am so happy to see this happen,” trails supporter and Councilwoman Marilyn Oertle said. “Now we need a better pedestrian crossing at 67th and 188th.”
City officials also plan to pave the same stretch of 188th Street NE, which will allow for wider lanes, a smoother street and better street lighting, public works director James Kelly said. The cost of the road works project is about $232,000 and includes the removal of the old pavement.
Work on the street paving and walkway projects are expected to begin in early August and finish by the end of September, Kelly said.
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.
