Question: In Silver Lake, 116th Street SE is every bit as residential as Colby Avenue, or even Rucker Avenue, which is very mixed business and residential. Still the speed limit on 116th street is 35 mph. The city limits are 30 mph. Why?
Mike Dahlstrom, Everett
Answer: Colby and Rucker avenues are located within the Everett city limits. On the other hand, 116th Street SE is located primarily outside the city limits and within unincorporated Snohomish County.
County code requires a 35 mph speed limit on all county roads unless an engineering or other traffic considerations call for a higher or lower speed limit.
The prevailing speed of traffic on 116th Street SE is in the 35 mph to 38 mph range. Collision history on this road is lower than the average. Therefore, 35 mph is the appropriate speed limit for this road.
Jim Bloodgood, traffic engineer, Snohomish County public works
Question: There are many students walking to bus stops, folks walking for health reasons and dogs walking their owners on 83rd Avenue SE at the top of Cavalero Hill off of 20th Street SE.
It’s a nice pedestrian lane that should be a safe place to walk. However, some residents use this lane for parking disabled vehicles, sometimes leaving them there for weeks. Will the county install “no parking” signs?
M. Peterson, Everett
Answer: This is a pedestrian walkway and it is signed for no parking to the north of Eighth Street SE. We will sign the portion from Eighth Street to 20th Street SE as well. The sheriff’s office should be contacted if the problem persists.
Jim Bloodgood, traffic engineer, Snohomish County public works
Question: At the intersection of the Bothell-Everett Highway (527) and Trillium Boulevard, the light has been reset to allow left turns onto Trillium Boulevard into Mill Creek.
However, the signs now prohibit the reverse-turn right on red from Trillium to northbound Highway 527. While there is a slight turn on northbound Highway 527 (partially restricting visibility), the lights are not set up to allow traffic out onto Highway 527.
It is very common to sit on Trillium waiting to turn north for two or three minutes with little or no traffic on Highway 527 coming northbound. Every once in a while, however, a green right turn arrow will allow traffic out of Trillium onto Highway 527. This needs to happen more often.
Timothy K. Borchers, Mill Creek
Answer: The reader is correct that drivers are prohibited from making right turns on red from Trillium Boulevard onto northbound Highway 527 because of limited sight distance.
The intersection is set up to give a green right-turn arrow when a car stops on westbound Trillium Boulevard.
This doesn’t work when vehicles pull past the stop bar so they can make an illegal right turn onto Highway 527. We will change the signal controller to give a green light to westbound Trillium traffic even if the vehicle pulls past the stop bar.
Mike Mansfield, the state’s assistant traffic engineer for Snohomish County
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