The City of Mountlake Terrace has received a $5 million grant from the Washington State Transportation Improvement Board to assist with funding Phase II of the city’s Main Street Revitalization Project, running along 56th Avenue West from the Mountlake Terrace Transit Center to 230th Street Southwest.

Phase I of the Main Street project was finished in 2020, and included 236th Street Southwest from Interstate 5 to 56th Avenue West. The second phase will be located along 56th from 236th to 230th Streets Southwest and will include wider, more ADA-accessible sidewalks, two travel lanes, a two-way left-turn lane and bike lanes on both sides.

Acting Public Works and Utilities Director Phil Williams told the Mountlake Terrace City Council in September that the city was facing a potential $18 million shortfall for completing the Main Street project’s second phase, and the focus would be on acquiring regional, state and federal grant funds to address the difference.

Obtaining the state Transportation Improvement Board grant “was fantastic,” Williams said, adding that Mountlake Terrace was one of only four grantees out of 154 total that received the full $5 million available for a single applicant. “For a smaller city the size of Mountlake Terrace, it just spoke volumes for this (Main Street) project,” Williams said.

The city next will pursue federal grant dollars through the RAISE program, which has a significant amount of money available due to the newly adopted Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Williams said.

The fact that the half of the Main Street project is already complete should make the project attractive for potential grant funding, Williams said. Another element in the city’s favor, he added, is the planned Transit Connection Corridor Project that will link the Town Center to the new light rail station – now under construction — via a trail system through Veterans Memorial Park.

The city plans to put in an application for a RAISE grant by April 2023 and should hear back on whether it is successful by August.

The city can’t begin construction on Main Street Phase II until all the funding is in hand but is currently working to acquire right-of-way for the second phase, Williams said.