City, state and local business leaders broke ground April 14 on the final stage of road improvements along Bothell Way Northeast running through downtown Bothell.
Known as the Multiway Boulevard project, the infrastructure improvements, which began in 2013, are designed to ease the flow of traffic through the city while connecting the historic business core east of Bothell Way Northeast with new developments to the west.
A construction bid of more than $9 million was awarded to Interwest Construction Company to create four arterial traffic lanes with additional center turn lanes, a local access lane between Highway 522 and Reder Way, 14-foot sidewalks and 60 parking spaces, among other improvements.
Funding for the final phase of the project came from a variety of sources, including $6.75 million from the state Transportation Improvement Board (TIB), city funds and revenue from construction.
Greg Armstrong, an engineer with the TIB, said the Multiway Boulevard was high on their list of projects to fund due to rapid development in the city and a short construction timeline. TIB funds come from a portion of the state gas tax.
“This project really met the goals of our growth and development program,” he said.
Construction is anticipated to be completed by July 2017.
The completed corridor will have coordinated traffic signals designed to ease the flow of traffic down Bothell Way Northeast, LED streetlights and environmentally friendly water drainage features like rain gardens and permeable street pavers.
The second and final phase of the project comes after the completion of previous improvements along the western edge of Bothell Way Northeast which widened sidewalks, built a business access lane and installed three new traffic signals, among other improvements.
In total, both phases of the project came with a $25 million price tag.
For the better part of the last decade, Bothell has been investing in massive infrastructure projects in line with their downtown revitalization plan.
These included the $62 million Crossroads project, which removed an old shopping center and shifted the Highway 522 and Bothell Way Northeast intersection to the south.
A $21.6 million project to redesigned the Wayne Curve along Highway 522 near Bothell Landing was also completed, which included creating dedicated transit lanes.
The city also began attracting developers to the downtown core, which resulted in the McMenamins Anderson School and the Six Oaks developments.
An unspecified specialty grocer and a drugstore will soon join their ranks in downtown Bothell as the city continues to act on their revitalization plan.
Aaron Kunkler: akunkler@bothell-reporter.com; 425-318-7651
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