In 2016 the Washington State Legislature directed WSDOT to study potential improvements to the US 2, SR 204, and 20th Street Southeast interchange near Everett. The summary was provided to the Legislature in mid-September.
In December 2016, WSDOT formed a project support team of representatives from Snohomish County, Community Transit, and the cities of Lake Stevens, Everett, Snohomish, Monroe and Marysville. This team worked to identify existing issues and potential future improvements at the interchange. The project support team provided feedback and direction on the future potential improvements throughout the duration of the study.
In spring 2017, the public had an opportunity to provide input on issues and needed improvements through an online survey. Additionally, WSDOT provided updates to the public through the community briefings, gathering additional community input.
WSDOT used findings from the support team and A public survey to develop an Interchange Justification Report. These reports are studies required by the Federal Highway Administration to support changes to highways.
Public involvement
Driver and community input was incorporated into the final study provided to the Legislature, ensuring that potential future improvements work for highway users.
Stakeholders
Key representatives from various agencies and jurisdictions provided feedback and direction to ensure that any potential future improvements reflect the needs of the area and are coordinated with local agency road projects and improvements.
Future decisions
At the end of this study, we provided a list of unfunded projects that the Legislature can use in the future to make decisions about the interchange.
The Legislature provided $1.5 million for this study through the 2016 supplemental transportation budget.
The interchange justification report provides detail about how and when people travel through the area and recommendations for improvements at the US 2/SR 204/20th Street Northeast interchange. We found westbound morning congestion at the interchange extends at least a mile in all directions, resulting in unreliable travel times and frequent collisions. The proposed improvements at the US 2/SR 204/20th Street Southeast interchange are designed to improve travel times for commuters and transit.
Proposed improvements
Although it is unfunded at this time, elements of the preliminary preferred alternative would include:
- An additional lane added to westbound US 2 to allow two lanes onto the trestle.
- Separate SR 204 and 20th Street Southeast on-ramps to eliminate their merge and connect to US 2 as single lanes.
- A traffic signal at the SR 204/20th Street Southeast intersection to replace the existing 4-way stop.
- Two-way traffic access over Ebey Slough Bridge from SR 204/20th Street Southeast intersection for vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians.
View the preliminary preferred alternative on the WSDOT Flickr page.
Benefits to travelers
The safety and travel-time benefits from the proposed improvements could include:
- Reducing backups along US 2, SR 204, and 20th Street Southeast by 50 percent.
- Reducing travel times on 20th Street Southeast and SR 204 by 10 to 15 minutes.
- Reducing transit and carpool travel times on US 2 by 12 to 18 minutes.
- Improving transit reliability for Community Transit riders by enhancing local transit connections to a US 2 high occupancy vehicle lane.
Public involvement
During the report development, WSDOT engaged a support team made up of representatives from regional agencies and nearby cities to review eight different interchange options. After evaluating computer traffic modeling and considering stakeholder interviews and community feedback from an online survey, the IJR support team reached consensus on one preliminary preferred alternative design.
Next steps
WSDOT began an environmental evaluation of the interchange and the westbound US 2 trestle. Although construction of a new interchange is still unfunded, the results of the environmental evaluation will inform a long-range plan and identify future phases of this project.
