These downtown intersections are getting new traffic lights. Here’s why
Downtown Bellingham should have two more traffic signals later this year, prompted by more people trying to cross the street.
Work has started at the intersections of Holly and High streets and at State and Maple streets, said Amy Cloud, spokeswoman for the city’s Public Works Department.
“This includes conduit crossings and installation of pole foundations, signal cabinet bases and junction boxes,” Cloud wrote in an email. “This phase will conclude in the next few weeks.”
Cloud wrote that both intersections will have “full signals” for cars and pedestrians at a total cost of $750,000.
Poles that hold the traffic lights will arrive in mid-summer, and then the signals will be operational, Cloud wrote.
Currently, both intersections have stop signs for drivers on High and Maple streets and crosswalks that require drivers to yield when someone is waiting.
Bike and pedestrian safety became a priority after a rash of serious injuries and two deaths in early 2017, leading to the city’s Travel with Care program.
“Our biggest concern right now is pedestrians getting hit in crosswalks,” said police Sgt. Carr Lanham, in a March 2018 interview with The Bellingham Herald.
Average daily traffic is 13,200 vehicles on Holly Street , and 9,000 vehicles on State Street, Cloud said.
Both streets have 25 mph speed limits but drivers often go much faster.
Cloud said that city Transportation Planner Chris Comeau wasn’t immediately available to discuss the new signals. But he said safety was a key consideration in a March 2019 interview with The Herald.
“That’s going to make State Street so much better for pedestrian crossing,” Comeau said. “It also will be safer for vehicle drivers not to have to suddenly stop (at a crosswalk) and risk a rear-end collision.”
Both State-Maple and Holly-High are intersections with heavy foot traffic because they are near Western Washington University bus lines and student-oriented housing, he said.
