Roundabout to come to Avenue D at state Route 9

A preliminary design for the roundabout set to be built this summer.

A preliminary design for the roundabout set to be built this summer.

SNOHOMISH — A roundabout is coming this year on state Route 9 where it meets the intersection at Avenue D.
“We don’t yet have a preliminary schedule from the contractor but we expect this project to begin in late spring - potentially in June” to build a standard-size, single-lane roundabout, state Department of Transportation spokesman Joe Calabro said last week.
Transportation selected the contractor Dec. 27 as the next milestone for the $3.4 million project.
It will be wide enough to accommodate semi-trucks with a truck apron, and northbound drivers will be given a right turn lane to hop onto Avenue D.
The roundabout will afford the ability for local traffic entering the highway to go either north or south. Currently, local traffic is directed to only turn right onto the highway -- northward if approaching from Avenue D, or southward if approaching from 19th Street (Bickford Avenue).
The intersection has had serious collisions in the past. In one, a driver was seriously injured in October 2019 after he allegedly didn’t stop for the stop sign and pulled out in front of an oncoming dump truck.
Meanwhile, in-town, in coming years the city plans to put a stoplight at 19th and Bickford Avenue. 19th is the short road that feeds traffic between Bickford and the Highway 9 intersection. The city rates the almost-$1 million project as high priority.