WSDOT and FHWA honor Vancouver’s Northwest Neighborhood Connectivity project for pedestrian safety

The Washington State Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration presented the city of Vancouver with the Director’s Excellence Award on July 14 for the Northwest Neighborhood Connectivity Improvement Project. Jay Dry, director of WSDOT’s local programs, said WSDOT evaluates about 1,400 active projects and nominates a handful for recognition; the director’s award is a statewide honor selected in close partnership with FHWA. Rob Klug, WSDOT local programs engineer, said the project made multimodal improvements and connections that improved pedestrian and bicycle safety and listed project elements including new crossing signals on Lincoln Avenue, a pedestrian pathway on Northwest Harney Street, impervious concrete sidewalks and a speed-warning camera near Ben Franklin Elementary School. City staff noted the project serves about 300 homes within a half-mile of Ben Franklin Elementary and was developed in partnership with the neighborhood association and the school district; the city used funding sources including RTC, WSDOT and the Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) to assemble the project budget. Mayor and council invited project staff and partners to the dais for recognition and photographs; WSDOT provided a plaque and poster to the city in recognition of the project’s collaborative outcomes.