Legislators approve some SR-522 improvement funding for WSDOT

The State Route 522 Paradise Lake Road intersection replacement project in Maltby is a step closer to coming to fruition.

The Washington State Department of Transportation’s budget for the 2017-19 biennium includes $750,000 for design, traffic analysis and community engagement, set aside by legislators this session. Washington Sen. Kirk Pearson said it was a unified message sent from the community that pushed the funds through.

“None of us were surprised because it was very bipartisan — we all made a push, we all want to see that funding done,” he said. “We do want to eventually get the lanes in, and get traffic moving and get rid of the bottle neck — that is what we would all love to see.”

Pearson said many other agencies the city of Monroe and Monroe School District played a major role in securing support. Monroe Mayor Geoffrey Thomas said around 50 local city governments, nonprofits, organizations, Snohomish County officials and businesses have let lawmakers know in the past two years they want to see the projects completed.

“I can’t stress enough how much of a community involved advocacy this has been,” he said. “This has very much been a community involved process, and something that we as a community will push for until the improvements are finished.”

Corridor improvement plans began about 20 years ago. Sections of the roadway were expanded from one to two lanes in each direction. Two phases of the project are not complete. The Paradise Lake Road intersection replacement is one of them.

Pearson asked for the funds at the start of the session. In addition to the $750,000, he also sought $3.5 million for the intersection replacement, as well as constructing turn lanes east and westbound on SR-522 and widening the bottleneck from one to two lanes between the Snohomish River to Paradise Lake Road, which are included in the second remaining phase. The request included $16 million for replacing fish culverts related to the project.

There is no funding allocated for the one-lane stretch between Paradise Lake and the waterway. The project is on hold until there is money made available; no estimates exist for when that might be, according to WSDOT.

The Paradise Lake intersection replacement has another $10 million set aside in the Connecting Washington transportation package, according to WSDOT. At this point, those funds aren’t available until 2025.

Surrounding communities say the need for that money is more immediate. Commuters lose time trapped in the bottleneck during peak traffic hours, emergency vehicles can have trouble navigating the congested areas, and drivers take alternate routes that put pressure on arterials unable to handle the load.

Pearson’s request called the corridor “one of the worst in the state,” due to its rating as a “failing intersection” by WSDOT. The Snohomish County Comprehensive Plan calls the Paradise Lake Road intersection a “rural arterial with an urban level of traffic.”

Further, congestion is costing the Monroe School District money and its students time in the classroom, according to school district board of directors documents. In the 2015-16 school year, staff counted nearly 6,500 times students were late to first period because their buses were delayed on SR-522.

“I do recognize there was absolutely no money set aside before, I understand we want the improvements done right away, and the state does have some engineering work it needs to do,” Thomas said. 

He said this year’s allocation could move efforts forward faster than waiting until the Connecting Washington dollars are available.

The four-way widening would cost around $76 million, and the intersection replacement would cost about $104 million. WSDOT staff has come up with alternative designs that include a reversible lane in the bottleneck, or improving on the turn lanes at the intersection.

Price tags on the alternatives cost less or significantly less than completing the original designs. The various plans could shave 3-10 minutes off a driver’s daily commute.

“While TDM (transportation demand management) opportunities exist and can be pursued, they are unlikely to make a noticeable difference in overall performance unless paired with capital improvements, enhanced transit service, or other performance efficiencies,” according to WSDOT.

WSDOT spokesperson Tom Pearce said the agency does not have a timeline yet for when the Legislature’s funds will be used. 

“It is really too early to have much information on how and where and when and who is going to be using it,” he said.