Edmonds and Lynnwood have been awarded more than $7 million in federal funds for transportation projects.
The projects are designed to improve safety along Highway 99 and other major corridors running through the two cities.
The two were among 50 cities in the state last year selected to apply for funds from the Federal Highway Safety Improvement Program. The state Department of Transportation invited cities with high rates of intersection-related crashes.
Edmonds was awarded $4.9 million – the largest grant in the state – to work on the intersection of Highway 99 and 228th Street SW, and to install street lights along a nearby section of the highway.
“We’ve seen a lot of accidents in that area,” said Bertrand Hauss, Edmonds transportation engineer.
The plan is to close the left-turn lane from southbound Highway 99 to 76th Avenue W and to build a median. The left-turn lane is where many of the crashes happen, Hauss said. Instead, the city wants to extend 228th Street SW to 76th Avenue W by removing the retention pond in that spot and building a roadway. Traffic signals also are planned at the two intersections.
The city also wants to add new bike lanes and sidewalks on both sides of 228th Street SW.
The project will help reduce congestion, improve access to I-5, the Interurban Trail and the Mountlake Terrace Transit Center, and make the area safer for pedestrians, Hauss said.
Lynnwood received $931,000 to make upgrades to Highway 99 and the 196th Street SW corridors. The main part of the project will be making pavement markings easier to understand and more intuitive, said David Mach, the city’s project manager.
Another $95,000 will go toward putting a section of 176th Street SW on a road diet and adding bike lanes.
Lynnwood and Edmonds also received $472,500 together to work on 23 intersections along Highway 99 and 196th Street SW. Most of these intersections are in Lynnwood.
The intersections will be outfitted with a new technology that will make traffic lights adjust signals based on the number of cars, Mach said.
“The plan is, it will reduce congestion, and congestion is the leading cause of collisions,” he said.
In addition, Lynnwood and Edmonds got $300,000 each to upgrade signs, improve crosswalks and work on other safety projects.
Other projects
To learn more about these and other projects, go to http://tinyurl.com/trafficgrants.
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