SNOHOMISH — Bickford Avenue continues to see improvements intended to keep traffic moving but taxpayers are not funding all of it.
The traffic light on Bickford Avenue at Bickford Motors is funded by the business owner, said Yosh Monzaki, city engineer. He said the city will pay to maintain it. The cost for that light was unavailable, as it is not a publicly funded project.
The light planned at Bickford and Weaver Road is in the hands of the city. A federal grant covered $216,000 for design work, Monzaki said. The project overall is budgeted at $850,000.
Improvements to Bickford Avenue are ongoing. In October of 2019, a pavement overlay project went into motion with work completed by Northshore Paving. The city came in under budget on that work, Monzaki said. The budgeted amount was $384,000 but the costs came in at $261,000.
This year, the bridge over Highway 9 on Bickford Avenue will get an overlay as well, Monzaki said. That project will be funded with a state grant and is tentatively planned for this summer.
He said the city was awarded $381,650 from the Washington State Transportation Improvement Board to pave Avenue D from north of the roundabout to the state Route 9 overpass bridge, including the bridge, and for a separate overlay project for Park Avenue from Hill Park to the northern city limits. The city’s matching funds of $67,350 were funded by the Transportation Benefit District.
The Weaver Road Senior Housing project is under construction and will bring 100 units in a single five-story building just off Bickford Avenue. Once filled, it is anticipated to generate 370 daily trips.
