SULTAN — The city is going back to the drawing board for finding funding to design a roundabout at U.S. 2 and Sultan Basin Road.
A $5 million funding request to the state Legislature didn’t make it.
This project would widen U.S. 2 to four lanes across the Wagley Creek Bridge to the intersection at Sultan Basin Road.
So, it will keep digging, Sultan Mayor Russell Wiita said.
“We are in the process of requesting funds for multiple sections of the corridor. This was one of those requests,” Wiita said by email. He added that “We are evaluating other funding opportunities and may pursue those for the Wagley Creek/Sultan Basin Road project. We will also likely be going back to the legislature in future legislative sessions to seek funding.”
The city believes its request this year, sponsored by state Sen. Brad Hawkins, didn’t make it through because industry-wide costs have increased. The situation crimped which new projects could find footing in the state Transportation budget, and Sultan’s project wasn’t the only new project left out.
Other roundabouts progressing
The state Department of Transportation is planning to build a multi-lane roundabout to replace the signal at the Old Owen Road and U.S. 2 on the west edge of town.
It would be one of the many U.S. 2 safety projects between the cities of Snohomish to Skykomish. This effort got $14.5 million more in the 2023-2025 state Transportation budget.
Meanwhile, the city is seeking to receive funding to design a multi-lane roundabout at U.S. 2 at Main Street, Wiita said, through the Puget Sound Regional Council. The project could cost $2.4 million.
Sultan has a long-range plan to convert many of its major intersections along U.S. 2 to roundabouts to ease major congestion through the corridor.
