A look at the barriers that will be going along the centerline of U.S. 2 near Snohomish for two miles between Bickford Avenue and to just west of the South Machias Road bridge (Pilchuck River Bridge). The barrier is to help prevent deadly head-on crashes.
SNOHOMISH — There are plans for a roundabout on state Route 9 where it meets the intersection at Avenue D.
The state Department of Transportation is currently designing the single-lane roundabout, with construction scheduled to begin in spring 2022 and completion in summer 2022, Transportation spokeswoman Frances Fedoriska said. It’s a $3.7 million project which the Legislature allocated funding for.
The intersection is near the often-painted Snohomish Rock (another nearby landmark is the school district headquarters.) Currently, in-town traffic coming to Highway 9 is stopped to wait to turn right on the highway. Left turns from Avenue D are prohibited.
In the past 15 months, the Tribune has counted at least three accidents at the intersection. 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.
Widening work on state Route 9
A solution to congestion at the Snohomish River Bridge is only two years away.
The state plans to start widening the highway between Marsh Road and the Second Street on/off ramps.
The two-lane bridge over the Snohomish River required a solution. So, Transportation will construct a brand new bridge and have southbound traffic use it; northbound traffic will use the existing bridge.
The plan also calls for reconstructing the southbound on-ramp to state Route 9 at Second Street, which today is a tight uphill turn that meets the highway and forces drivers to immediately yield and merge in. Rear-end collisions have occasionally happened on the on-ramp because sometimes drivers hit the brakes waiting for a gap to make the merge.
The state Legislature allocated $142 million of the 2015 Connecting Washington transportation package to the widening this section of Highway 9.
In U.S. 2 news
In January, U.S. 2 will have barriers placed barriers down the center median of a two-mile stretch between Bickford Avenue and to just west of the South Machias Road bridge (Pilchuck River Bridge).
They are three feet tall and meant to deflect vehicles from crossing into the opposing lanes of traffic.
The barriers would sit inside the widened, paved median that was built down the middle of the highway during 2019.
Also, crews will soon work to smooth the notable bump on the Pilchuck River Bridge, Transportation said in a press notification.
