Bike lanes, crosswalk, traffic light are planned for this growing Bellingham area
Drivers who use Lincoln Street in the growing commercial section from Lakeway Drive to Samish Way soon will find a narrower street with bike lanes, another lighted crosswalk and a traffic signal.
It’s all in the name of safety, said Amy Cloud, spokeswoman for the Bellingham Department of Public Works.
“Several hundred student apartments and commercial development have been approved and are under construction along the Lincoln Street and East Maple Street corridor. The [bike lanes and crosswalk] will provide additional safety to pedestrians and cyclists traveling from the high-density housing to locations such as the bus stops near the Western Washington University park and ride or to shops along Lincoln,” Cloud told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
Some 13,700 cars a day use the one-mile stretch of Lincoln Street from Lakeway to Samish, according to a 2018 traffic count.
Construction is set to start in mid- to late August and will finish by mid-October, she said.
Here’s what’s planned:
▪ A traffic signal at Lincoln and East Maple streets.
▪ Bike lanes with flexible, reflective guideposts and a striped buffer.
▪ A crosswalk with flashing lights on Lincoln Street at Viking Circle.
▪ Lincoln Street will be reduced from five lanes to one lane in each direction with a center left-turn lane.
▪ Speed limit will stay the same — 35 mph near Samish Way, slowing to 25 mph at Viking Circle.
Cost of the project is about $1.1 million, with almost half paid for with a state grant and the rest coming from the city’s voter-approved transportation tax, Cloud said.
Separate traffic studies conducted by the city, the Washington State Department of Transportation, the Whatcom Transportation Authority and Whatcom Council of Governments found that the intersection at Lincoln and East Maple streets needs a traffic signal, she said.
