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| Region: Northwest | Legislative District: 42 | Length: 0.05 mi. | FY 2022 Urban Arterial Program (UAP) |
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Existing ConditionsThe signalized intersection of Meridian Street/West Illinois Street has become increasingly congested and is expected to have low vehicular level of service (LOS) performance, as documented in the 2020 West Illinois Multimodal Transportation Study. The steel traffic signal poles are old, fatigued, have been hit multiple times by freight trucks, and will need to be replaced in the near future, which will require ADA upgrades that are constrianed by the presence of buildings at the back of sidewalk on the northwest and southwest corners. There are currently no bicycle facilities on either Meridian Street (11,500 ADT) or West Illinois Street (6,000 ADT), but both are recommended for bike lanes in the 2014 Bellingham Bicycle Master Plan. The Meridian/Illinois intersection abuts the popular Haggen Grocery Store and is the northern gateway to the Fountain District Urban Village, which is experiencing significant new growth and development. The vehicular LOS at Meridian/Illinois will contiue to deteriorate as growth occurs. |
Project Funding
| TIB Funds | Local Funds | Total Costs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design | 10,000 | 40,000 | 50,000 |
| Right of Way | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Construction | 490,000 | 110,000 | 600,000 |
| Project Totals | $500,000 | $150,000 | $650,000 |
Local Match
| TIB Participation | Local Match | Minimum Local Match |
|---|---|---|
| 76.9% | 23.1% | 20% |
Summary of Improvements
- Improves mobility;
- Extends improvements;
- Removes ADA barriers
Description of Improvements
The 2020 West Illinois Multimodal Transportation Study examined the feasibility and cost of reconstructing the Meridian/Illinois traffic signal as a single lane roundabout rather than the City re-investing in a new ADA-compliant traffic signal. The study documents that as a traffic signal, the intersection will degrade to an overall LOS E for vehicular operations with the westbound turnlane degrading to LOS F, but the intersection would improve to LOS B overall as a roundabout with the westbound to southbound movement improving to LOS C. In July 2020, Bellingham submitted grant applications to WSDOT for Pedestrian & Bicycle Safety improvements for the west half of W. Illinois Street (Lynn St - Meridian St) and Safe Route to School improvements for the east half of W. Illinois Street (Sunset Dr - Meridian St). If WSDOT grants are secured, then construction of sidewalks and bicycle lanes on West Illinois could occur in summer 2022, but these grants do not include the Meridian/Illinois intersection. Bike lanes on the Meridian-Girard corridor (Squalicum Pkwy - Young St) are planned with local funding in 2021 and TIB grant funding to reconstruct the traffic signal as a roundabout in 2021 would both improve intersection operations and complement the all of planned improvements to W. Illinois Street and the Meridian-Girard corridor.