Now that the big street improvement project is winding down on Northeast 10th Avenue between 141st and 149th streets, it’s looking increasingly clear that street lights are NOT going to be part of the equation. Driving that stretch of road at night has always been difficult as you go from a well-lit area near 139th Street to virtually no lights at all north of there. Oncoming headlights make it difficult to see, especially when you approach a sharp downhill at 148th and 149th streets. I’d hoped the project to raise 10th Avenue to urban standards would also include urban street lighting. Why hasn’t it? Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great new street. But it’d sure be nice to be able to actually see it — and see where I’m going.
— Blinded by the headlights in Salmon Creek
Good news, Blinded: The county sees it your way.
“We are going to be putting in some lighting immediately north of 149th on 10th Avenue where there’s a dip in the road,” said county public works spokesman Jeff Mize. “This is because of safety issues. When you drive that dip, your headlights are pointing down and you don’t necessarily see oncoming traffic.”
But Mize added that the overall street improvement project was “not designed with streetlights in mind.” The design called for travel lanes and a center turn lane, bike lanes, sidewalks and landscaping — but no lights. The decision to add lights for safety is the county’s judgment call, Mize said, based on site specifics. There’s a further plan too, extending 10th Avenue all the way up to 164th Street, and it, too, includes no lights. (You can take a look at the basics for both of these plans at clark.wa.gov/publicworks/construction/projects.html.)
Why not plan for lights? Don’t most county roads in arguably urban areas get street lights as a matter of course?
