Bellingham gets new stoplights to help people cross these streets
Crossing Holly and State streets should be easier soon for people on foot, with the installation of crosswalks and stoplights at three intersections along those major routes through downtown Bellingham.
Traffic signals with crosswalk controls were activated Thursday morning, Oct .7, at State and Maple streets, just uphill from Depot Market Square.
Intersections at State and Laurel and Holly and High streets soon will be controlled with full traffic signals, said Amy Cloud, spokeswoman for the Department of Public Works.
Previously, all three intersections had stop signs for drivers on High, Maple and Laurel streets and crosswalks on Holly and State that required drivers to yield when someone is waiting to cross.
City officials told The Bellingham Herald in 2020 that the intent was to make crossing the two busy streets easier for people on foot, and to eliminate rear-end crashes that happened when a driver would suddenly stop at a crosswalk.
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.
State-Maple, State-Laurel and Holly-High are intersections with heavy foot traffic because they are near student-oriented housing and bus lines that serve Western Washington University.
Both streets have 25 mph speed limits, but drivers often go much faster.
Average daily traffic is 13,200 vehicles on Holly Street, and 9,000 vehicles daily on State Street, Cloud said.
Cost was $750,000 for all three projects together, Cloud said.
Work was supposed to be finished in the summer of 2020, but was delayed by parts shortages and delivery delays connected to the new coronavirus pandemic, she said.
