SNOHOMISH — Wider sidewalks. A tree-lined avenue. Slower traffic.
The city’s idea to transform Second Street from a through-way corridor into a centerpiece road isn’t funded right now, but the plans have received some tweaking since the city publicly presented plans last year.
The plans include reducing the speed limits to 25 mph, and some blocks will lose their center turn lane.
Second Street’s four bus stops will be consolidated to three.
Much of Second Street would have back-in parking alongside the
road.
The diagonal streets at Rainier (next to Jake’s Cafe) and one other will be marked as right-turn-only.
And, the plan would shut off Bowen Street behind Triangle Bait & Tackle and turn it into a pedestrian-only walkway.
It’s also a long way off — the city estimates it could take five to 10 years to gather up construction money, according to a timeline given at the Public Safety Commission meeting earlier this month where a project update was presented.
Benefits to pedestrians
Second Street’s appearance today stems from its function decades ago. It was a piece of the U.S. 2 highway, cut through town, until the 1980s when a bypass was built.
Now, project planners want to bring some identity to the street.
Instead of a straightaway, the proposed refreshed Second Street would have kinks and jutting curbs to naturally make drivers more cautious. About 20 percent of drivers use Second to scoot through without stopping in town, according to the city.
The city also won’t be sticking a curbed median down the middle, after hearing concerns from farmers who need room to run wide loads down Second.
Pedestrians could be given curb space that juts into the road so people are seen more prominently.
The Police Department recently conducted a pedestrian safety emphasis on Second Street at the crosswalks on avenues A and C.
A summary report found that motorists showed contempt and irritation at pedestrians for holding up traffic. However, from the pedestrians’ perspectives, “several commented that the Second
Street crossing is one that is challenging because vehicle operators often fail to yield to pedestrian right of way. A few relayed stories of almost been struck while crossing the street in the marked and protected crosswalk area,” the report stated.
A fatal hit in the crosswalk at Ave-nue A about 10 years ago helped prompt putting in a traffic light.
The Second Street emphasis work resulted in 15 driver citations and 22 warnings for failing to yield to a pedestrian, according to data from the Police Department on two consecutive Mondays. Also, one jaywalking warning and one DUI.
“Second Street has the most recorded accidents within city limits in the last 10 years. There have been 327 reported crashes, including one fatality and 88 serious injuries,” according to the city.
Other safety measures
The city considers back-in parking safer than front-in parking because people exiting their vehicle won’t be accessing the trunk with an active road behind them. It also means occasionally cars will stop in the middle of Second Street to maneuver into parking spaces.
The road would be shared with bicycles. There is no bike lane planned.
Taking away the half-block road at Bowen Street would fix a traffic hazard, project planner Denise Johns said. The short squirt of a road is sometimes used by drivers to cut right on Maple Avenue to proceed to Lincoln Avenue.
To remedy Triangle Bait’s lost parking behind the shop, the plan is to notch in some parking near the shop, Johns said.
There are not plans to add a right turn lane at Maple, Johns said. Maple and Second would continue to have a left turn lane and a straight-through lane.
A $323,000 state Department of Transportation grant focused on pedestrian and bicycle safety paid for the design study.
The corridor project area is from Highway 9 to Lincoln Avenue.
“We’re trying to re-knit together a historic district,” Johns told the Snohomish Public Safety Commission earlier this month.
Johns mentioned that a gateway sign declaring the start of the historic district could be put in where Avenue E meets Second. A park-like setting with trees could go at Avenue G and Second.
Early aspirations to get the power lines underground have softened “because of cost,” Johns said. “We’re picking our battles.”
Current maps that show which parts of the corridor will have a center turn lane and which narrow down without one were unavailable by deadline.
However, it is known that the center lane between avenues D and C, and at Maple Avenue will be retained.
The design plans are around 90 percent complete.
The city is actively seeking out grants for construction. It applied for a rural construction grant earlier this year.
