Traffic traveling on Northeast 119th Street passes signs advertising homes for sale. The area around the street has been growing, and the roadway is now being improved to keep up. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian)Photo Gallery
A country road just north of Vancouver will continue its transformation into a suburban thoroughfare later this year.
Clark County Public Works is wrapping up the first phase of improvements to a stretch of 119th Street and already has plans to begin upgrades on another segment of the corridor beginning in the spring.
Bart Arthur, a county engineer, said that construction on a section between Northeast 72nd Avenue and Northeast 87th Avenue is “substantially complete” and all that remains is a “punch list,” miscellaneous final tasks to make it physically complete such as replacing a concrete sidewalk panel.
“It has been for a very long time loaded with traffic,” said Robin Washington, Clark County Public Works project manager. “It was more traffic than that road could really handle. It’s one of the main routes.”
In 2014, Rotschy Inc., a Vancouver-based construction company, began work on the $19.3 million project to renovate the stretch to include two travel lanes in each direction plus a center left-turn lane, as well as bicycle lanes and sidewalks. The project also involved environmental improvements to nearby Curtain Creek to give the channel more characteristics of a natural waterway, such as riparian vegetation, to enhance habitat for fish and wildlife.
Although all the construction created delays for commuters using the corridor, Washington said the difference is now noticeable and will better accommodate nearby growth.
It was previously only 40 feet wide and now has expanded to 100 feet. Before work on the project began, Arthur said there were deep ditches on either side of the road that were big enough to roll a car into. Now, those ditches are gone.
Beginning in April or May, similar improvements on Northeast 119th Street between 50th and 72nd Avenues will commence. Construction crews will widen the road and add a center turning lane. It will cost about $8 million, which will come from a mix of state, local and federal funds. It should take two construction season to complete.
“It will be widened and will have sidewalks and bike lanes that don’t exist now,” said Washington.
Arthur said that new subdivisions have been built along this stretch of road and planned improvements will help accommodate the new growth. Washington added that as the new road is put in there will be other enhancements to utility infrastructure for water, electricity and internet.
Commuters and local businesses complained about delays during construction. Arthur said that it’s quite possible that delays will return when construction on the next stretch begins.
“(Commuters) will be in a construction zone,” said Arthur. “Whenever I can, I like to reduce the speeds for safety because we have people on the ground.”
Public Works spokesman Jeff Mize said that the corridor has become a “critical east-west” thoroughfare, and “we want people to be able to use it whether they are in a car, bicycle or walking.”
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