Several readers have wondered about that new traffic signal on 20th Street SE at Cavelero Road in Lake Stevens, on a steep incline just east of the trestle.
Reader Bob Robinson, who worried about traction on such a steep grade, first alerted me. Then letter-writer Zeda Williams sent in her concerns. Matt Mauzey was the latest to chime in.
“It’s a scary hill going up, and traction issues will be a problem if a line of cars has to come to stop there in icy conditions. They do keep it de-iced real well but I can see a disaster happening in a sudden snow storm before the road can be treated,” Mauzey wrote.
The grade is indeed steep — just under 14 percent, according to Mick Monken, the city’s Public Works director.
“The city shares concerns with snow and ice,” Monken wrote. “However, the need for safe access for both the north and south legs of the intersection is an all-year concern and needs to be a priority.”
The hill is a priority route for anti-icing treatment, snow removal and sanding, he said. In severe conditions, the city also could close off access and detour drivers to gentler slopes — something many drivers already do on their own in bad weather.
The signal was installed as part of a new housing development north of that intersection, where Cavelero Road becomes 75th Avenue SE.
The development is expected to generate over 2,300 new daily trips, Monken said. More than 200 will be during the already hectic morning and evening commutes. That’s just from the north side. Add in the same number coming from the south and the 1,400 peak-hour trips already on 20th and, well, you get the idea.
Which brings us to our favorite word: Traffic.
Lake Stevens recently received the unhappy moniker of one of the region’s 10 worst commutes.
“That is no joke,” said Williams when I followed up with her after her letter.
“I expect our elected community leaders (federal, state, county, local communities and legislators) — not just Lake Stevens who inherited the problems with its 2010 annexation — to make this bottleneck a priority, start working together, and find funding sources for a longer-term fix, which would not include just putting in stop lights,” Williams wrote.
There are long-range plans to improve 20th Street where Snohomish County left off at 91st Avenue SE, Monken said.
“The real hold-back is the limited grant opportunities out there,” Monken said. The city received a grant last year for the design and right-of-way acquisition for 20th Street between 83rd and 91st. “It is hoped that this puts the city in a better position to go after construction funding in the not too far future.”
But Monken and all the rest of us can point to the bigger issue.
So big it gets capitalized at this point.
“The Trestle.”
The U.S. 2 interchange in Everett is the biggest traffic chokepoint in the county, and that gets felt all along the westbound trestle leading up to it.
The Washington State Department of Transportation calls a new westbound U.S. 2 trestle “a priority” but there’s no funding so far to back that up.
Talk about a hill to climb.
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