LAKE STEVENS — Lundeen Parkway, a major east-west route to and from downtown Lake Stevens, is scheduled to be closed for more than a month for construction of a roundabout.
The closure is planned for March 22 to April 30, with the reopening date dependent on weather, said Arnie Clark, a project manager for the city of Lake Stevens.
The $1.5 million roundabout is being built at the intersection of Lundeen Parkway, Vernon Road and Lake Drive. Signs informing drivers of the closure and detours will be posted in the area, city public works director Mick Monken said.
A section of Vernon Road that runs parallel to Lundeen Parkway will be kept open and used for detours during the closure, Clark said.
Eastbound drivers will be able to exit Lundeen just before the construction site, take Vernon Road parallel to Lundeen and get back on Lundeen at 99th Avenue NE. Westbound drivers on Lundeen will be able to exit at 99th and get back on Lundeen just past the construction site.
There will be no access between Lake Drive and Lundeen Parkway, Clark said. Drivers on Soper Hill Road and Lake Drive who want to go to downtown Lake Stevens will have to go north on Highway 9, east on Highway 92, then south on Callow Road, 113th Avenue NE or Grade Road.
The Lundeen intersection has to be dug down 7 feet and completely rebuilt to create the roundabout, Clark said.
When it’s done, it will be worth the trouble, he said.
In recent years, residents have told city officials they want improvements made where the three roads meet and would like to see a roundabout there.
“That intersection’s been a bone of contention for this community forever,” Clark said.
The intersection currently has stop signs for drivers entering Lundeen Parkway from Vernon Road and from Soper Hill Road, but no traffic control for drivers on Lundeen.
Many drivers say they have trouble turning from Vernon Road or Lake Drive onto busy Lundeen Parkway at rush hour, Clark said.
“They stack up there and they do all sorts of dangerous things,” he said, adding that some serious accidents have taken place at the intersection.
A roundabout is a type of intersection where cars or trucks drive around a central circular area instead of going straight through or turning at a right angle. Roundabouts are different from smaller traffic circles, which are commonly used to slow traffic at residential intersections.
More roundabouts are being built in Snohomish County, the state and the nation as alternatives to traffic signals and stop signs. Studies show they cut down on the severity and frequency of accidents, keep traffic flowing, reduce air pollution, save gasoline and are easier and cheaper to maintain.
Detractors say they can be difficult to navigate and can cause fender-bender accidents.
The new roundabout is only about a half-mile west of another roundabout, at the intersection of Lundeen Parkway and Callow Road. That roundabout opened in 2006 when the intersection was part of unincorporated Snohomish County.
The $1.5 million project is financed with $453,431 in federal economic stimulus funds; $500,000 in real-estate excise tax money and $570,000 in other city funds, city administrator Jan Berg said.
Of the city funds, $500,000 comes from an amount set aside when voters agreed to pay a tax directly to Sno-Isle Libraries rather than having the city do it.
Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; sheets@heraldnet.com.
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