Western, Whatcom Transit Authority and the city of Bellingham have tentatively committed funds to make the intersection of Bill McDonald and 25th Street safer.
A public hearing on future transportation projects in Bellingham will be held on May 19 for the draft of the 2009-2014 Transportation Improvement Program at the City Council meeting.
The intersection project will be in this draft, Public Works Director Dick McKinley said.
Western Alternative Transportation Coordinator Devin Branson said many accidents have occurred in this intersection, and it is dangerous for students traveling from the Buchanan Towers dormitory.
“Right now, the intersection is hazardous to students’ safety, and it is inconvenient for people in vehicles to get onto Bill McDonald from Buchanan Towers or 25th Street,” he said.
State law requires Bellingham to update its six-year plan to make transportation improvements. The projects listed within the first three years of the plan must be fully funded.
Whatcom Transit Authority (WTA) is expecting a traffic signal to be placed at the intersection and wants to work with Western and the city to design an intersection that will be beneficial for everyone, said Rick Nicholson, director of the service department for WTA.
No written contract exists. However, Western has agreed to commit $400,000, WTA will commit $25,000 and the city will commit $100,000, McKinley said.
Nicholson said route 14 bus drivers have reported waiting several minutes to make the left turn from 25th Street onto Bill McDonald and the bus is regularly late due to large traffic volumes in the intersection.
“Any time you have a lot of vehicles coming from different directions and a lot of pedestrian traffic, the odds of there being conflicts increases,” he said. “We want to give a little money to fix the intersection and minimize these conflicts.”
David Doughty, assistant director of public safety, said drivers traveling through the curve on Bill McDonald have a difficult time seeing pedestrians trying to cross from 25th Street.
There were two accidents in this area in October 2007.
Western sophomore Stephanie Sargent lives in the Buchanan Towers dorm and crosses the intersection regularly.
“It scares me when I’m crossing it,” she said. “I don’t think people are going to stop for me because they don’t really expect people to be crossing there.”
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