ARLINGTON – City officials hope to approve an almost $55,500 contract with Everett-based Perteet Engineering to update its long-term transportation comprehensive plan.
Work entails traffic analysis to determine changes at 31 intersections and impacts on roadway level of service now that future land planning to 2035 will reallocate 824 dwelling units from west of I-5 to east of Arlington, based on comments from the Puget Sound Regional Council, Public Works Director Jim Kelly said.
Kelly said 172nd Street NE anticipates new access points and signalized intersections in the future.
As part of development on the north and south sides of 172nd , the city wants to install a traffic signal at the intersection with 40th. That location is currently too close to existing signals along 172nd at Smokey Point Boulevard to the west and 43rd to the east.
Perteet’s final task would be to develop a non-motorized plan to address the needs of pedestrians and bicyclists around the community. The plan would also include the city’s “Complete Streets” policy. The six-month scope of work would include public involvement, including a communication plan, community outreach and an open house.
City Councilmember Debora Nelson, who serves on various regional transportation boards, was glad to hear that Complete Streets will be incorporated into road planning. The policy is about creating and maintaining safe streets for everyone. That means designing streets for pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders and others, with the priority on safety, followed by freight mobility.
In other council business:
* The city plans to pursue a $15,000 professional services agreement with Tupper Mack Wells PLLC for water rights legal services. The firm has worked with Arlington before providing legal advice related to expansion of the city’s water rights and development of a long-term water supply strategy.
Kelly said the city needs to lock in more water rights to ensure sufficient supplies for the future, which would also address water rights transfers. “When we put a well in, we have to make sure we have a long-term straw stuck in the ground.”
* Discussed a resolution to purchase ultraviolet bulbs for the Wastewater Treatment Plant only from Aquionics, a sister company to Berson Ultraviolet Systems, the original manufacturer. Other powerful bulbs that use UV radiation to destroy nasty micro-organisms had been used from another company in the past, but they do not meet the level of disinfection required in the city’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit for operating the facility.
* Recreation Manager Sarah Lopez got the go ahead to apply for a a $10,000 Red Cross grant to help meet costs for the Ride to Remember Oso and Celebration of Strong Communities event March 19. The grant would fund a paid event coordinator, support from the BIKES Club of Snohomish County, marketing and other event costs. The ride is an America’s Best Communities initiative.
