Edmonds to add bike lanes and complete-streets elements on Highway 99 Stage 3 under WSDOT ILA; design and right-of-way costs to be reimbursed

The City of Edmonds will advance design and right-of-way work on the Highway 99 Revitalization — State Street Stage 3 project under an interlocal agreement (ILA) with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), the committee heard Tuesday. The ILA adds bike lanes and other complete-streets elements to the corridor; WSDOT will reimburse the city for design and right-of-way costs identified in the agreement.

Bertrand House, transportation engineer, presented the ILA and said the principal design change since earlier work is the addition of a 4-foot bike lane in each direction. House explained that to accommodate the bike lane the planter strip will be reduced from six feet to five and that a one-foot separation will be introduced between bike lane and sidewalk in places. He said the bike lanes were not included in the project’s initial cross section but were added after the Washington Legislature’s complete-streets requirement took effect for projects with design starts on or after July 1, 2022.

House summarized how WSDOT and the city would share costs: WSDOT will fully fund the bike-lane design and certain work south of the SR 104 ramps; grading of some driveways and two minor cross streets (230 Eighth and 240) is expected to be split roughly 50/50 because those changes derive in part from earlier planter/sidewalk work and in part from the new bike lanes. House said WSDOT will reimburse the city for design and right-of-way costs included in the ILA; he described the design-phase cost estimate at roughly $4 million, with about $440,000 allocated to complete-streets design and about $290,000 for the overlay component. Right-of-way costs tied to the complete-streets additions were estimated at just under $1.3 million.

House said the construction funding split and total construction costs are not yet final because design was at roughly 60% and more exact construction estimates will be available after bid award; he said WSDOT and the city will negotiate a supplemental ILA for construction contributions after bids are received. House added that outreach, including preliminary meetings with property owners and an upcoming public open house, will precede right-of-way acquisition.

Committee members thanked staff for the outreach and noted that the project has no general-fund impact because WSDOT and Connecting Washington funds cover the reimbursable work. Members agreed to forward the ILA to the consent agenda.