New road provides highway access to Arlington’s industry hub

Update: The ribbon cutting for Arlington Valley Road has been moved to 2 p.m. March 15.

ARLINGTON — The quickly growing Kent Prairie area of Arlington will soon have another way to access Highway 9.

Arlington Valley Road, a new route linking 74th Avenue NE to 191st Place NE west of the highway, is set to open Feb. 22.

The road, which is three-quarters of a mile long, has two traffic lanes and a center turn lane. It also has a paved path for pedestrians and bicyclists that connects to the Centennial Trail.

City Clerk Kristin Banfield said the road will reduce traffic on congested routes such as 67th Avenue NE. It also will provide more ways for trucks to come and go at manufacturing businesses.

“Having that additional access is really going to make their operations much easier,” she said. “They only had one route to take out of their yard. Now they’ll have two.”

The new road runs through the Arlington-Marysville Manufacturing Industrial Center, a blossoming industrial area. The Arlington side of the center currently employs 8,000 workers, Banfield said.

Some industrial plots in the area have been landlocked up to this point, she said. Arlington Valley Road will open them up to potential development.

The project cost $4.38 million, Banfield said. The state provided about $2.4 million, while the rest was covered by the city. Construction was completed by Seattle-based Scarsella Brothers Inc.

The new road has been in Arlington’s comprehensive plan since 2005, Banfield said.

“Sometimes that’s how long it can take and how much planning we have to put in place for development,” she said.

The city expects the industrial center could become home to 25,000 jobs by 2040.

“Manufacturing is getting pushed out of central Puget Sound and is moving south and north,” Banfield said. “When they head north, we’re the next logical stop after Everett.”

Julia-Grace Sanders: 425-339-3439; jgsanders@heraldnet.com.