Crews will work on finishing the five pedestrian crossings around Bellingham that were paid by the federal economic stimulus bill next week.

They’ll begin installing the signal poles and doing pavement marking at the crossings, which are at the following locations:

Maplewood/Northwest
Lakeway/Grant
Maple/Newell
Alabama/Grant
York/Railroad

Flaggers will be on site to direct traffic through the work, but the delays aren’t expected to be long.

Also, there won’t be any street construction in Bellingham next Thursday (Thanksgiving) and Friday because of the holiday, according to Bellingham Public Works.

After we got a letter to the editor regarding street repairs along Sunset Drive, I checked with Bellingham Public Works and discovered that crack sealant came out and it awaiting repairs.

That’s on the stretch between Orleans and Woburn streets.

Chad Bedlington, superintendent of maintenence at Public Works, told me he believes it’s because the contractor didn’t do a good job of installing it. If that’s the case, then the contractor will reinstall it at their expense, per the contract, he said.

But it it’s possible that cracks in the street are too big for the sealants to work. They’ll work with the contractor before replacing the sealant to figure out what the cause was, he said.

The city hopes to have them replaced by the end of the year, but the work depends on dry weather and relatively warm temperatures, so it may have to wait until spring, he said.

Meanwhile, the letter writer said, “The eastbound lane has been ripped up for months where the lane lines connect. There is debris and junk in both lanes that fly up onto ars and windshields. When will this section of the road be getting the needed repairs? I know money is tight, but with the huge amount of traffic this part of Sunset Drive gets on a daily basis, you’d think a more permenent solution would have already been applied. I hope they’re not waiting for spring and drier weather!”

Have you driven that stretch recently? I drove it eight days ago to go to the Whatcom Transportation Authority board executive committee meeting, and it didn’t seem bad to me.

I just got word from Steve Haugen, traffic operations engineer at Bellingham Public Works, that crews expect to turn on the signal at Chestnut and Railroad Avenue tomorrow (Wednesday).

They have some finishing work to do tomorrow morning, but they expect to turn on the signal tomorrow.

Here’s an bit more on the city’s work to remove the two traffic islands along West Bakerview Road (they’ll start work tomorrow morning, and the city is asking people to avoid that area, if possible). This article will run tomorrow:

City crews will remove traffic islands along West Bakerview Road this week, an effort to decrease congestion and improve safety along the heavily traveled corridor.

Bellingham Public Works crews will work Wednesday through Friday to remove median planters along Bakerview between Palisade Way and Northwest Avenue and between Northwest and Pacific Highway, near Fred Meyer.

The islands at those locations clog up traffic because it limits the number of left-turning vehicles queuing in the center turn lane, city officials said.

“I remember coming to the conclusion that removing the islands was a no-brainer after performing several site visits during (evening rush hour) and witnessing several close calls as traffic consistently stacking into the through lane,” said Steve Haugen, traffic operations engineer at Public Works.

Removing the islands lets more vehicles wait to turn left onto Northwest Avenue and into the Fred Meyer driveway, he said.

The islands were installed to improve the road’s aesthetics when that stretch of Baker-view was widening and improved in 1998, and it was done with the expectation that some islands may have to be modified or removed as traffic increased in the future, Rory Routhe, assistant director of engineering, previously said. Some islands have already been modified, he said.

“We expect more will be modified in the future as needed for safety and capacity re-quirements,” he said.

More than 27,000 vehicles a day use Bakerview east of Northwest, and more than 16,000 a day use it between the freeway and Northwest, according to Public Works data.

The work, which will take place between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., will require some lane closures. Flaggers will be out there directing traffic. Work dates and times are may change, depending on weather or last-minute changes in work schedules, according to Public Works.

Bellingham Public Works will remove traffic islands on West Bakerview Road starting Wednesday to increase vehicle capacity in the area.

The work will be done from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and it’ll result in some lane closures.

The work will take place between Palisade Way and Northwest Avenue and between Northwest and Pacific Highway.

From the city:

City crews will remove two center landscaped islands and repave the areas upon completion of their removal. The islands are being removed to add more vehicle capacity in the center turn lanes and eliminate a conflict point with through traffic.

The city of Bellingham is asking for engineers interested in designing two new bridges along James Street Road, a $3 million project that’s needed because the small structures are in pretty bad shape.

Bellingham Public Works put out a request for qualifications for consultants to design the new bridges, which are timber-supported structures over a couple of ditches. They are just north of the Sunset Pond, which is behind Sunset Square. The bridges score an 11.5 and 32.95 on a scale of 1 to 100, where 100 is perfect condition.

The project is estimated to cost about $3 million, and it’ll be paid with city and federal funds. The federal government provided a $2.5 million grant for the project.

It sounds as if the city is just asking for engineers to design the bridge replacements, and to also do a study looking at the alignment of James Street between Woodstock Way and Orchard Drive (city staff have told me that they may consider changing the alignment in that area to make it safer).

Then, if the city gets more money and likes the consultant’s work, officials may hire the same consultant to design a widened street in that area with sidewalks and bike lanes.

That narrow stretch sees about 12,000 vehicles a day, and it’ll see a LOT more after growth in the newly annexed King Mountain neighborhood takes off. City officials plan an urban village around the area of Bakerview Road and James Street, and a developer is working with the city to plan an urban village on King Mountain just north of the northern deadend of James Street.

According to the city’s grant application to the feds, the city proposed to keep access down James Street open during the bridge construction. It’ll make the project take longer and cost more, but the access is needed, the application states.

Also, here are some crash statistics for James Street Road from June 2003 through May 2008 from Woodstock Way to Telegraph Road:

10 people were injured in 7 crashes

2 people were killed in one crash. They were teens who died when their speeding vehicle hit a power pole in Sept. 2005. Alcohol was believed to be a factor in the crash.

13 crashes has property-damage only with no injuries

12 of the crashes were rear ends

2 of the crashes were T-bones

6 of the crashes were hitting a fixed object or parked car

1 crash involved a pedestrian or bicyclist

I created this map to show what the crash history looks like:

Click here to see the city’s request documents.

I snapped this photo earlier today of Bellingham Public Works crews working on the new signal at Chestnut Street and Railroad Avenue. Some workers were feeding electric lines under the street, while this guy was up welding on the signal pole:

The signal should be turned on in the next couple of weeks.

I just learned something interesting while talking with Steve Haugen, traffic operations engineer at Bellingham Public Works.

The “paint” that marks pedestrian crossings in town isn’t actually a type of paint, it’s a thermal plastic that crews put down with torches. It doesn’t need to be put down on warm pavement, but it must be dry at the time.

Also, the reason the city does the crossings like they do, with parallel lines pointed up the street, is to minimize the fading from frequent vehicle traffic. Oriented like they are, some tires drive between them. Otherwise, vehicles would eventually cut a faded spot in the crossings.

I learned this while talking with him about the new signal at Chestnut Street and Railroad Avenue. Sail Electric crews installed the poles today, and the signal will be turned on within about two weeks.

As soon as city crews can get a break in the weather they’ll put down the fourth pedestrian crossing between La Fiamma and the copier shop across Chestnut.

Three transportation projects will be reviewed by Bellingham’s shoreline committee at the end of this month:

Central and Roeder avenues

Bellingham Public Works plans to install a signal and bollards there, along with a new stormwater catch basin.

Ohio Street between North State Street and the freeway

This project, which I’ve written about before, involves shutting off left turns into and out of King Street from Ohio. It also involves installing a signal at James Street. Only part of the project is close to Whatcom Creek, but that means the project needs a shorelines permit.

Meador Avenue at Whatcom Creek

The city plans to build a pedestrian bridge over Whatcom Creek near Meador Avenue to complete a link in the creek trail. The bridge will be nine feet wide and 75 feet long.

The hearing is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29, in City Council Chambers, 210 Lottie St.

City officials are working to contact drivers who are parking along Forest Street in Bellingham, because crews want to start repaving the street.

Ebenal General has been working to replace an old water line on the stretch between Boulevard and Holly Street. They want to do paving now, but there are cars still parking along part of the stretch.

Apparently, somebody took down the ‘no parking’ signs that construction crews put up, leaving drivers to think it was OK to park there. City officials are now looking up owners of vehicles through a database and calling them, asking them to move vehicles. They won’t be getting parking tickets.

So far, most of the cars along that stretch appear to have been moved. Officials are still calling drivers though.