As the belt-tightening continues in the City of Edmonds, department directors are continuing to be creative in their efforts to find money for needed projects. At last Tuesday’s Edmonds City Council meeting, Mayor Dave Earling congratulated Public Works Director Phil Willliams for his efforts to obtain a $500,000 grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce to assist in funding the Main Street project, aimed at a variety of improvements on one of Edmonds’ most well-traveled streets.
According to Williams, the grant will cover amenities not already funded in a $725,000 federal grant that the city already received for the Main Street project, aimed at promoting both Economic Viability and Environmental Sustainability.
Project elements include:
– Narrowing Main Street by 4 feet to calm traffic
– Widening sidewalks by 2 feet on each side to accommodate café seating and retail displays, and emphasize pedestrians over cars
– Building all new sidewalks, curbs, tree wells and gutters to eliminate tripping hazards and provide for a healthier urban tree inventory.
– Replacing the aging, leak-prone water line (this is a water utility expense).
– Providing all-new, themed streetlights with energy-efficient LED elements.
– Adding two electric car charging stations – one each direction.
– Adding a pedestrian-safety-oriented, mid-block crossing.
– Replacing retail-unfriendly street trees with appropriate species.
– Removing unsightly power poles and service wires to improve street level viewscapes.
– Providing for water quality treatment and volume reduction for all stormwater generated on the street and sidewalks to protect Puget Sound.
– Adding public art, including flower basket poles, and street furniture including benches, waste receptacles and bicycle racks.
The city plans to go to bid on the project in June and begin construction Sept. 9, with completion scheduled for Nov. 12.
This is an outstanding project that, as I recall, got started by Council Member Plunkett pressing for several years to get the street lighting improved. I look forward to seeing the finished product. Hopefully it will create a standard that we’ll want to eventually see continued all the way west to Sunset Ave.
We feel that the need for Public Restrooms in Edmonds should have been addressed in this grant. Our visitors and guests deserve this………
Mr. Wambolt makes a good point that taking this project all the way to Sunset Ave. would be a great asset for the city. I only hope that it can be completed as quickly as indicated int the above article. The new park in front of Old Milltown is a much smaller project and seems to be taking months and months and is not yet completed.
The Hazel Miller Plaza project(formerly Old Milltown), funded almost entirely by
donations,is in its final stages. Carrie Hite reported that a Public Restroom will be included. Our Parks Director Carrie Hite had many problems on the site which delayed the project. Having a Public Restroom in the project should be good news for downtown shoppers.
This is great news! Kudos to Phil Williams for jumping on these grants, so the city is not effected financially.
This project is also taking a relatively long period of time because most of the work has been done by city staff whenever they could fit it in around their routine duties. I walk by the area daily; the work they’ve done is first class.
I should have mentioned that the project I referred to in #6 is the OMT park.
Regarding “narrowing Main Street”. Does that mean the Main Street before 9th or the Main Street all the way from Five corners through town?
Regarding the bathrooms at the Hazel Miller Park, does that mean that the City has negotiated a lease with the owners of Old Milltown to use its bathroom (which currently remains locked). If there is a leasing agreement, what is the cost to the City? If there is a plan to build there, where and what is the cost and how is it being paid for?
Otherwise, good job!
Main St. will be narrowed by 4 feet between 5th and 6th in order to provide the extra 2 feet for sidewalks on both sides of the street. The narrowing will also slow traffic.
@Ron, does that mean that there will be no parking between 5th and 6th? At the moment there is only two lanes and two lanes for parking?
I believe that the existing parking will remain, except possibly at the spots where the two charging stations for electric cars. The two travel lanes will be narrower. I personally believe that one of the reasons there is so much speeding in our downtown is because most of our streets are wider than they need to be.
Rest Rooms -downtown & Angled Parking
Clarification: the city is in discussion about the restrooms at the site of Hazel Miller Plaza but nothing has been agreed upon yet.
With regard to the narrowing of Main St. I have often wondered about making parking places that are at an angle rather than parallel. It is so much easier to get in and out. Perhaps that could be considered on the side streets off of Main or in the area east on Main. I’d like an expert to tell me whether that could work.