EVERETT – The City Council Wednesday night approved spending $2.8 million to add sidewalks, bicycle lanes and curbs to Holly Drive between Airport Road and 100th Street SW, where pedestrians walk dangerously close to traffic.
The money also will add center turn lanes in spots along the two-lane street. Most of the money will come from a federal grant. Construction will start in the summer.
Pedestrians have a hard time navigating that part of Holly except in a few places where there are already sidewalks, city engineer Ryan Sass said.
“If you want to walk, you’ll be walking in the grass off to the side,” he said. “That’s not very comfortable, and it puts people close to the edge of traffic.”
Jim Harris, chairman of the Holly Neighborhood Association, said he is especially concerned about children. Some children walk along Holly to Challenger Elementary School at 9600 Holly Drive. In addition, many kids ride their bikes close to traffic, he said.
He welcomed the new sidewalks and bike lanes. “There’s definitely a safety issue there now,” he said.
The city annexed that part of Holly Drive in 2000, and is gradually adding sidewalks to newly annexed areas, Sass said.
A $150,000 project next year will add more sidewalks along 100th Street SW between Ninth Avenue W. and 12th Avenue W., Sass said.
Reporter David Olson: 425-339-3452 or dolson@ heraldnet.com.
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