Fixes for 116th St. NE mess just need money

Published 5:25 pm Monday, May 23, 2011

Kelly Carman of Marysville writes: Some afternoons, many weekends and most holidays, 116th Street NE near Seattle Premium Outlets becomes completely gridlocked.

Traffic traveling northbound on Quil Ceda Boulevard to eastbound 116th regularly blocks both lanes of the intersection because the inside eastbound lane has backed up from the I-5 overpass and because vehicles in the outside eastbound lane stop in that lane to try to force their way over into the inside lane.

Also, it is very common for drivers to travel eastbound in the outside lane until just before the overpass, where they realize the outside lane is a right-turn-only lane. They stop, block the lane and try to move left into through-lane.

I have seen traffic backed up on the offramp from southbound I-5 to 116th Street NE because drivers cannot turn left into gridlocked eastbound traffic.

Are there any plans to address this frustrating free-for-all? It would have been nice if the infrastructure had been in place to accommodate the added traffic caused by the casino and the outlet mall prior to the completion of those projects.

George White, spokesman for the Tulalip Tribes, responds: The tribes have spearheaded the effort with local, state and federal agencies to address the congestion at this regional interchange on I-5. The issue is funding to complete the work.

The tribes are seeking funds to rebuild the I-5 overpass to add more through lanes, turn lanes, reduce the two signals to one, widen all four ramps with additional lanes and provide safer pedestrian and bike connections across the interchange. The design is under way.

The work is expected to start in late 2012 and cost $42 million. While there are funding commitments from the tribes and the state and federal governments, we continue to seek more resources from the federal government, Snohomish County and the city of Marysville.

To date, the tribes, Snohomish County and the state and federal governments have pitched in more than $20 million to improve traffic flow on the west side of the freeway. On the east side, the city of Marysville widened 116th Street NE and improved ramp connections to and from I-5.

Bronlea Mishler, spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation, adds: The proposal is to build an interchange similar to I-5 at 41st Street SE in Everett, with a single intersection that will handle traffic from both the northbound and southbound I-5 ramps. The intersection would also include new turn and through lanes so drivers could easily access 116th on either side of I-5. The tribes are leading the design process and working to get construction funding.

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