After years of planning and construction, the City of Lynnwood officially celebrated the completion of 196th Street Southwest improvements. The roadway carries tens of thousands of drivers each day and is Lynnwood’s busiest thoroughfare.

Lynnwood Mayor Christine Frizzell and U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen spoke about the project’s significance before cutting the ribbon during a Tuesday ceremony. They were joined by many other speakers including Lynnwood Public Works Director Bill Franz and City Engineer David Mach.

“There are rising signs of progress and growth all around us, from the Lynnwood Light Rail City Center Station to the south of us, to the Community Justice Center to the north of us, to the many multi-family buildings we see in the distance to the to this completed road we are gathered by right now,” Frizzell said.

“Completing the 196th Street Improvement Project would not have been possible without the strong partnerships with the multitude of contractors, consultants, and agencies our teams interacted with almost daily. We are so thankful for their dedication to this project.” Frizzell added.

The project focused on the portion of 196th Street between 48th and 37th Avenues Southwest. The improvements were designed to reduce traffic congestion, better accommodate bus and transit travel, increase business access, provide utility capacity for future development and promote safety. This hefty list was achieved by implementing the following:

• Conversion of overhead power and communication utilities to underground
• New traffic signals
• Planted medians
• Wider sidewalks and landscape features
• New business access and transit lanes
• New storm drainage, water quality and flow control
• New water main and fire hydrants
• New sewer main
• New driveways for all businesses
• Repaved full roadway

The street’s overhaul cost $48 million, and the City of Lynnwood received $26 million in state and federal grants to complete it. The remaining $22 million came from the City of Lynnwood, the Washington State Department of Transportation and other private funding.

— Story and photos by Jasmine Contreras-Lewis