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CONTACT THE ENTERPRISE Jocelyn Robinson, News editor jrobinson@heraldnet.com

Mill Creek sneaks one past DOT

SR 527 signal change a temporary fix for gridlock on 164th

By Alexis Bacharach
Enterprise editor

It took some fancy footwork, but congestion on 164th Street should ease up when state transportation officials reluctantly change the signal timing at State Route 527 in Mill Creek.

Sen. Steve Hobbs slipped the order into the Department of Transportation's budget just before the legislative session ended in March.

"We did it," the Lake Stevens Democrat told city leaders March 25. "I slid it in as a proviso on page 26 of the department's 100-something page budget, and no one said a thing."

Any rush-hour commuter traveling the 164th Street corridor into Mill Creek, can tell you: while cars are moving fast and furious on 527, they're backed up half a mile from the intersection on 164th.

A longer green light cycle -- timed with the signal at 164th and Mill Creek Boulevard -- would reduce congestion for drivers headed east and west.

Public Works Director Tom Gathman attempted several times to work with DOT officials directly, but determined the paperwork and other hurdles involved in tinkering with signal timing on the state highway would take far too long to navigate.

He passed the buck to Hobbs, hoping the senator would carry more weight with department leaders.

"I didn't get very far either," Hobbs said. "I now have a much better understanding of the bureaucracy of the DOT."

City leaders expect the signal change will take effect in the next few months, but worry it's only a temporary solution for commuters coming to and from Mill Creek.

Continued development in the areas just outside city limits will increase traffic on the roadway Snohomish County Council members say cannot be realistically improved to accommodate more cars.

That's the essence of the county's ruling earlier this year that designated 164th Street between Lynnwood and Mill Creek at ultimate capacity.

"How can we allow development to continue on a road that can't handle any more traffic?" Mill Creek City Councilman Mark Harmsworth asked. "I know the idea is to encourage people to use the bus. I just don't see that roadway as being a viable corridor for public transportation."

But County Councilman Dave Gossett contends that increased mitigation fees for builders and a countywide effort to increase ridership on public buses will effectively reduce the number of cars on 164th street.

"Our goal is to eliminate 100 peak-hour trips and I don't think that's unrealistic," Gossett said. "I think too, anything Mill Creek does to improve its intersections on 164th will help move traffic along."

Gossett said county leaders are interested in working with Mill Creek to make any intersection improvements identified in ongoing studies through the city's public works department.

"Unfortunately for Mill Creek, there are many large lots in this area that are natural for infill development," he said. "There are things the county and the city can work on together to minimize the negative impacts, but we'll never please everyone."

While the county considers potential improvements on State Route 524, 35th Avenue Southeast and other nearby roadways, city leaders say that development outside city limits is driving traffic problems on streets maintained by Mill Creek taxpayers.

"We have to find some way to direct traffic around our city," Harmsworth said. "None of the county's proposals seem viable to me."