Planned I-5 overpass could ease backups at Lakewood Crossing

Published 12:01 am Saturday, April 23, 2011

MARYSVILLE — A possible fix for a traffic bottleneck here may come soon.

Work is expected to begin this year on a new bridge over I-5 near Smokey Point to serve as another outlet for the congested Lakewood Crossing shopping center and nearby neighborhoods.

The city of Marysville plans to advertise for bids on the $17 million project next month, city public works director Kevin Nielsen said.

Under that schedule, work could begin in July and be completed in about a year, he said.

The overpass will link Twin Lakes Avenue on the west side of I-5 with Smokey Point Boulevard on the east side, at 156th Street NE.

The city will pay for about half of the project from its own bank account and raise the other half through assessments on property owners, Nielsen said.

Last year, the city approved a local improvement district under which owners will be charged. The district covers about a 2½-square-mile area on both sides of I-5.

Several property owners petitioned the city asking to be assessed, believing the overpass has potential economic benefit. The final cost to each property owner has not been determined.

Gene Dunlap, general manager for the Costco store at Lakewood Crossing, thinks the overpass will help tremendously. Costco is among the properties that will be assessed.

“It’s the single best road improvement we’ve seen in Marysville in many years,” he said. “It’s going to give ingress and egress from the other side of the freeway without having to hit (172nd).”

Lakewood Crossing was built in 2006 on the south side of 172nd at the intersection of 27th Avenue NE. The only traffic outlet for the center — and for about 200 homes — is 27th. Roads to the south stop at dead ends.

After the shopping center was built, residents, shoppers and employees converged at the 172nd and 27th intersection in traffic-jammed backups of 30 minutes or more, especially around the winter holidays.

Turn lanes were added on 27th and 172nd and the flow has improved somewhat. Still, during holidays and certain other times it’s just as bad as it was at the beginning, said JoAnn DeLazzari, who lives in Crystal Tree Village, a mobile home park near the shopping center.

The city has been working on the bridge idea since 2007. DeLazzari doesn’t think it will help.

“I think it’s a terrific amount of money spent on a bridge to nowhere,” she said.

The overpass won’t have on- or offramps to the freeway because of a federal regulation prohibiting new interchanges within a mile of each other. The bridge would be just under a mile from the ramps at 172nd.

Most of the shoppers come from the north and south and wouldn’t use an overpass running east and west with no ramps, DeLazzari said.

“People are not going to be doing a circuitous route,” she said.

Emergency vehicles might have an easier time getting into the 55-and-older mobile home park but still would likely need to use 172nd and I-5 to get to area hospitals, DeLazzari said. And fire trucks and aid cars would still have to go through a congested four-way stop to get into and out of the park, she said.

Dunlap said many Costco customers come from Marysville and Lake Stevens as well as north and south. He noted city officials have said it’s possible that ramps could be added to the new overpass in the future.

No certain timetable has been given. If ramps don’t come for 10 years, DeLazzari said, it won’t be much help to many people living in the mobile home park.

“The seniors at Crystal Tree Village aren’t overly concerned with 10 years,” she said.

Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; sheets@heraldnet.com.