EVERETT — The Interurban Trail is supposed to offer cyclists and pedestrians a pleasant break from choking traffic and honking horns.
But south of Everett, the only way to get from one side of I-5 to another is to cross busy 128th Street and then get past two freeway ramp entrances.
Next year, the state will begin building a bridge over I-5 a few blocks north of 128th Street so users of the trail have a better way to cross the freeway.
"Right now, there isn’t a safe, convenient and user-friendly connection between the west and east side sections of the trail," said Brian Jones, engineering services manager for the city of Everett. "Especially for kids, it’s a very hazardous connection."
Drivers entering and exiting the freeway often are not expecting pedestrians and cyclists, he said.
Of the $3.8 million in construction costs, $300,000 will come from mitigation fees that the Boeing Co. has paid since 1991 to help local governments cope with increased traffic after an expansion of Boeing’s factory.
The Everett City Council on Wednesday approved spending the $300,000 from Boeing fees on the overpass. Everett, Boeing, the state and the county will jointly determine how the mitigation fees are spent.
Construction will begin in late 2004, and the bridge is expected to open in late 2005, said Steve Thomsen, a county engineer.
The need for an overpass has been discussed since the Interurban Trail was built in the mid-1990s, but there wasn’t money available until now, Thomsen said. Most of the money will come from the federal government.
The bridge will be where 124th Street would be if it were to cross I-5. As part of the project, the state will build a trail from the east end of the overpass to the intersection of 128th Street SE and Third Avenue SE, where trail users travel on Third Avenue SE for a few blocks before going back onto the trail.
Thomsen said he’s unaware of any accidents at the interchange that have involved bicycles or pedestrians, but officials feared that one eventually would occur.
The bridge also will help lower car congestion at the interchange, said Ron Paananen, deputy regional administrator for the state Department of Transportation.
The state hopes to one day reconfigure the interchange to improve traffic flow, and taking bikes and pedestrians away from the interchange means cars will not have to stop to let them pass.
There’s only one other freeway crossing for the Interurban Trail, at Maple Road northeast of Lynnwood. Maple Road does not have an I-5 interchange, so trail users do not have to cross freeway ramps.
Reporter David Olson: 425-339-3452 or dolson@heraldnet.com.
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