How WSDOT is going to speed up Highway 524 in Lynnwood
Aug 26, 2015, 12:59 PM | Updated: Aug 27, 2015, 2:46 pm
The popular shortcut in Lynnwood, often used to drive around I-5 and I-405 traffic, has been jammed as more people use it. Now WSDOT is designing a few fixes. (Google image)
(Google image)
Locals know Highway 524 — or 196th Street — well. The major route through Lynnwood was once an easy way to get to Bothell. But now, with all the growth in the area, it’s backed up all the time.
Thankfully, the Washington State Department of Transportation is aware of the situation.
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“They are looking for ways to beat the congestion, looking for the back door to their house, or looking for ways to get to the baseball fields or get their kids home from school,” said WSDOT spokesperson Travis Phelps.
The new Lynnwood High School is just off this route now, adding to the congestion.
Phelps said that there has been about an 8 percent increase in traffic on Highway 524 between 2005 and 2011.
“I’m sure it’s increased a little bit more since then,” he said. “And that’s just folks cutting through.”
Phelps said there isn’t much that can be done to add lanes in the area.
“Adding capacity in this area is going to be pretty darn expensive because if you look at either side of the highway, you got a lot of creeks, you got a lot of wetlands,” Phelps said. “This is more than just taking care of the environment. This means anything we build has to be able to handle a lot of water, which means adding a lot of culverts and we have to buy a lot of right-of-way to make that construction happen.”
There is also a cemetery, Buddhist temple, and a lot of new homes along the highway.
So no new lanes, but WSDOT is going to spend about $5 million to add two roundabouts on the highway. They will be close together, right where the highway passes under I-405.
The addition will give drivers more than half a chance to actually take left-hand turns, which are nearly impossible today.
“You drive through there now and there are a lot of folks waiting to hang a left onto Magnolia [Road] or Locust [Way] … that’s going to hold up traffic,” Phelps said. “Those roundabouts are going to calm traffic a bit, make it easier for folks to turn, and it’s also going to prevent some of the T-bone accidents we’ve had out there.”
The design work on the roundabouts will begin in the next few months. Construction is set to start in 2018.
