Published January 8 2013

A plan to widen and improve 120th Avenue Northeast got a boost Monday, with the City Council's acceptance of a federal $1.1 million grant.

The project -- which calls for realigning and widening 120th Avenue from two lanes to five and adding bike lanes and sidewalks between Northeast Eighth and 12th streets -- is in design. Construction would likely begin when right of way acquisition is complete in 2014.

State and federal grants, the $1.1 million Surface Transportation Program grant and an earlier $3 million grant from the state Transportation Improvement Board, now cover a third of the project's estimated $12.2 million construction cost.

The four-block stretch of 120th Avenue is one of three sections of the street the city plans to widen as part of its Mobility and Infrastructure initiative, intended to accommodate anticipated growth downtown and in the Bel-Red and Wilburton areas.

Adopted by the council in 2009, the initiative calls for extending Northeast Fourth and Sixth streets east to 120th Avenue, and widening 120th from Northeast Fourth Street to Northup Way. A new arterial is also planned for the Bel-Red area.

council agenda item

Feedback: Paul Krawczyk, Transportation Senior Project Manager, 425-452-7905 or pkrawczyk@bellevuewa.gov