Frequently asked questions
Useful info
Why California Street?
Everett City Council adopted the Bicycle Master Plan in 2011, which identified California Street from West Marine View Drive to the US 2 trail at Hewitt and Chestnut as a tier 1 priority project (Everett bicycle master plan, facility ID T1-C1 and T2-C).
The City applied for and was awarded, through a regional competitive grant process, federal congestion management air quality (CMAQ) funding for the design phase of the California Street bicycle and pedestrian corridor between Broadway and US 2. The City is currently in the planning and design phase, supported by a consultant team.
What was the online open house?
Developing a project that significantly alters an urban street is a process that includes a range of planning, engineering and environmental considerations. Gathering and incorporating public feedback is one of the most important parts of project development and an important factor in the identification of a feasible preferred alternative to meet the project goal.
Future stages of the project, as detailed engineering design progresses, will include other public outreach opportunities with a mix of online and in-person events as public health guidance allows.
In consideration of the COVID-19 pandemic guidance in place during the public open house process, the open house was hosted online. The online hosting also had benefits for those who could asynchronously and, in typed format instead of a public forum, provide their feedback on the alternatives.
When will the project be built?
The project is currently in the design phase. The 30% design was submitted in mid-2022, and the 60% design is anticipated to be completed in January, 2023. The 100% design of the project is expected to be completed by June of 2023. The project has not been selected in a competitive grant process for construction-phase funding. The City is continuing to explore and pursue options for securing construction funding. Selection of a preferred alternative, based on a combination of public input and best practices for safety, multimodal transportaion and context-specific engineering criteria, was completed in mid-2022.
How will the public feedback be used?
The concepts presented in the online open house were all feasible and helped to guide the public discussion of the project. A preferred section was selected based on a combination of the public feedback recieved and factors including impact to the right of way and adjacent development, impacts to traffic, safety, best practices for multimodal corridors, and compatility with other planned and programmed transportation improvements in the vicinity. The public feedback on the route heavily favored Pine Street. The public feedback on the sections favored one-way buffered bike lanes as an individual option, but overall the public's preference was for a two-way protected cycle track. Because of the safety benefits, the public's general approval of the two-way cycle track was used as part of the selection of the preferred alternative. The preferred section is in the process of being modified, as needed, to fit the specific context of the corridor as the engineering design phase progresses.
What has been designed in the 30% engineering phase?
The City's consultant has identified, through an on-site multi-day study the potential impacts to on-street parking and devleoped a mitigation strategy that retains parking meeting or exceeding the existing used and available parking. The connection on Pine Street has been designed to be a sidewalk-level shared use path on the east side of the street. After considering the existing land uses, condition of the existing roadway and sidewalks and the connections to bike facilities on California Street and Hewitt Avenue, the elevated shared use path was determind to be the best fit for the context and constraints. Hewitt Avenue has been designed with minimal modifications, utilizing the existing wide sidewalks on the south side, and the existing signalized intersection at Maple Street to connect Pine Street to an improved bike crossing at Chestnut Street, leading to the US 2 trail.