Wielding gold shovels and yellow hard hats, Mill Creek’s leaders and officials from the state Department of Transportation christened the project residents and commuters have been anxiously awaiting for more than a year.
Mill Creek and state officials joined on April 17 at the future entrance to Mill Creek’s Town Center at Highway 527 and 153rd Street SE to dig ceremonial shovels full of soil from land that will be transformed into additional lanes on the Bothell-Everett Highway.
The project will expand the highway to five lanes between 164th Street SE and 132nd Street, adding sidewalks, bicycle lanes, lighting and signage, and a new signal at 153rd Street SE, marking the entrance to the city’s new Town Center.
“This is a great day for Mill Creek,” said Mill Creek Mayor Terry Ryan to about 40 people, including officials from the state, City Council, Mill Creek Business Association and Snohomish County Council.
Ryan said the project was important to the Mill Creek community, as it would spur economic development.
Plans are to complete the widening with minimal disruption to traffic. One nighttime detour is planned for electrical work for a signaling at the 164th Street intersection. A barrier will separate workers from traffic during construction.
The project will improve traffic flow and safety on a busy stretch of Highway 527. Additional work for the same purpose should not be needed until 2025. State officials say the project will be complete some time in late 2004.
“In the mean time, there’ll be a lot of activity,” said Ron Paananen, Assistant Regional Administrator for the DOT Northwest Region.
Most of the $10 million budgeted for the project – $9.1 million – will fund construction work by Tristate Construction, with the remaining amount funding state inspections, MacIntosh said.
The $10 million comes from multiple sources, including federal Transportation Improvement Board funds. Work began with the PUD’s tree removal along the highway.
Presently, Tristate Construction is installing erosion control and detention ponds for the project, said Dawn MacIntosh, state construction project manager.
Work started last summer with construction of decorative soundwalls. The wall design was a result of partnerships between the state and city. The state’s intention last year was to finish the project, widening lanes then.
Because of state budget concerns, work stopped at the soundwalls. This year, city officials were relieved to hear the project would be moving ahead.
Jill Marilley, former city public works director/city engineer and currently a Mill Creek resident, was given a certificate for her work on the project. Marilley is now the city engineer for Shoreline.
“Mill Creek is extraordinary and this is going to make it even more so,” said Marilley, who spent three years on the project. She said she envisions, “a much more peaceful way to move a lot of traffic through.”
Bob Stowe, Mill Creek City Manager, said, “This has been a project that has been a very important project for Mill Creek.”
The Highway 527 widening has been a top priority in Mill Creek for the last six years, Stowe said. Other top projects include the Mill Creek Town Center and community center.
The Highway 527 widening is “a project that’s going to significantly impact the commerce in our area. Our local businesses are depending on the success” of the project, Stowe said.
He added that another benefit for the Mill Creek community is in the quality of life aspect that the widening will bring as people spend less time in traffic.
Lorena Eng, regional administrator for WSDOT, said the Legislature is very busy right now, otherwise Rep. John Lovick, D-Mill Creek, would have been present for the event.
“I saw Lovick and he said ‘you will build that project,’” she said.
As city and state officials celebrated the beginning of the Highway 527 widening, Lovick was working on the “last leg” of the Highway 527 widening. The state’s transportation plan includes $25 million in funds to widen the highway from 132nd St. at the northernmost end of Mill Creek, to 112th St. at Safeway in Everett.
Lovick said he was happy to see the project start, but added “I’m just disappointed it didn’t come sooner.”
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