Everett set to add bridges, 75th Street bike project to $5 billion plan

EVERETT — City leaders are ready to seek money for bridges over Broadway and along Lowell Snohomish River Road, as well as continuing to replace gas-powered buses with battery-electric vehicles in Everett.

Those are the three updates proposed for the city’s annual six-year transportation improvement program. Called TIP, the document is a list of bicycle and pedestrian facilities, surface transportation projects and other improvements the city could develop. It also is used in grant applications.

The Everett City Council will hold a public hearing and is expected to approve it at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

In total, Everett’s TIP would cost over $5 billion. The city isn’t actively developing all of them at the same time, but it creates a roadmap of what could be ahead for Everett.

Everett spends about $10 million each year on some of the list’s 99 projects, public works engineering services manager Richard Tarry said at last week’s planning commission meeting.

Replacing the bridge on Lowell Snohomish River Road, which also acts as a flood control gate, is estimated to cost $15 million. More precise costs would come when the city gets further into design and seeks bids for the project.

Another addition, the north Broadway pedestrian bridge, is already funded by the state’s Move Ahead Washington transportation package. The Legislature marked $12.9 million for the span over Broadway near Everett Community College and WSU Everett. State lawmakers will prioritize the projects in the 16-year, $17 billion package.

“It’s such a densely populated area of our city and ripe for growth, so that type of busy intersection is going to need safer crossings,” Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin said at last week’s City Council meeting.

Bike and pedestrian corridor improvements on 75th Street SW near Boeing are also in the works. The city is hoping to be on a contingency list for federal funds to start design, Tarry said. Those improvements between Hardeson Road and Seaway Boulevard are estimated to cost $10.2 million. It would connect to proposed bike lane projects on Sievers Duecy Boulevard and Madison Street.

Also, the city is on track to replace its entire fixed-route fleet with battery-electric buses by 2028, Everett Transit director Tom Hingson said. Of 41 Everett Transit buses in service now, nine are battery-electric.

Another 10 battery-electric buses could join the fleet this winter and early next year. City leaders are pursuing grants to buy another 15 as replacements for aging diesel buses.

Ben Watanabe: 425-339-3037; bwatanabe@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @benwatanabe.