Mountlake Terrace residents soon will be able to enjoy a new trail that connects the Interurban Trail at 228th Street SW with the Mountlake Terrace Transit Center via Lakeview Drive.
Details of the new Lakeview Trail were unveiled during an Open House Thursday night at the Mickey Corso Community Clubhouse at Ballinger Park.
Mountlake Terrace Traffic Engineer Janet Hall told the audience that the trail “just generally improves options for pedestrians and bicyclists.”
Federal funding is providing 80 percent of the analysis and design costs of the project and 84 percent of the construction costs. The anticipated construction cost is $2.3-$2.6 million.
The Trail will run along the side of Ballinger Park, basically heading south and west. It will cross to the north side of Lakeview Drive at 65th and 236th. The crossing was necessary because there is a sidewalk only on the north side of the bridge at Interstate-5.
The Trail will be a shared use path that features 12-foot wide pavement, 2-foot wide shoulder minimum on both sides and a 5-foot buffer between the path and roadway. It is designed for use by both pedestrians and bicyclists.
The goal of the City is to do as much landscaping as it can between the trail and roadway with trees and ground cover. Three sections will have medians in the road and there will be sections that have a retaining wall. The project includes curb ramp upgrades to meet ADA requirements, adding a crosswalk at the entrance to the Lake Ballinger Estates and Rectangular Rapid Flash Beacons at the Interurban Trail and Boat Launch and Fishing Access.
Hall indicated that there will be transit improvements where people will be able to walk to stops via the trail. One of the stops near the Ballinger ballfield will be moved a little bit.
“(The stops) will be by a trail. You can walk to it,” Hall said. “There will be no walking through landscaping.”
Street lighting will be replaced because most of the existing lights are located right in the middle of where the Trail is going to be constructed. The lights will serve two purposes, Hall said.
They will light the roadway but also light the trail.
“One light will work for both the street and trail,” Hall said.
A traffic light will be installed at 236th Street SW. and 65th Ave. W. where there will be a tee intersection. It will be a full signal with one phase specifically for pedestrians and bicyclists.
The Trail project will not have any major impacts to the Ballinger Park. Two right-of-way issues with the Washington State Department of Transportation and the Nile Shrine Temple will need to be resolved.
As of July, 90 percent of the design of the project has been completed. Hall expects all of the design to be completed in the fall of 2014 along with agency approvals. The City will advertise for construction also during the fall with construction expected to start in early 2015.
Residents will have to deal with some short term road closures and parking restrictions during construction.
– By David Pan
For more information on the Lakeview Trail project see https://cityofmlt.com/cityHappenings/news/ConstructionProjects.htm
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