Updated at 10 p.m. Thursday to reflect that public comment won’t be taken on this issue at the Jan. 22 council meeting.

Those who live or work near a proposed City of Lynnwood project to improve Scriber Creek Trail had a chance to learn more about planned improvements and offer feedback on three possible alignments options during an open house at Lynnwood City Hall Jan. 15.

The Lynnwood City Council is scheduled during its Tuesday, Jan. 22 work session to hear city staff’s recommendation on the preferred alignment. Those wishing to express their opinions on the options can can communicate with councilmembers via email. (Contact information here.) There will be no public testimony taken since it’s a work session.

The council meeting is a day later the usual due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday Monday, Jan. 21.

The Scriber Creek Trail project involves completing approximately 4,000 feet of shared-use trail from Wilcox Park at the intersection of 196th Street Southwest and 52nd Avenue West to the Interurban Regional Trail and Lynnwood Transit Center.

The existing 1.5-mile trail begins at Wilcox Park (SR 524) at the north and terminates at the Lynnwood Transit Center at the south. According to the city, the narrow 4-foot to 8-foot trail is frequently flooded and impassible. Since it features both hard and soft (wood chip) surfaces, it can’t be used by bicyclists.

In addition, the trail has been degraded by stormwater flooding and natural impacts such as soil settlement and tree roots.

“Improvements are necessary because the current trail does not accommodate the variety or volume of intended uses due to its existing conditions,” said Sarah Olson, Deputy Director of Lynnwood Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts, in an email.

Olson noted that the trail “currently traverses a very auto-oriented area of Lynnwood that is highly developed and experiences some of the highest traffic congestion, volumes and collisions in the city.” Because there isn’t a safe way to get through the area on foot or by bicycle, commuters choose to use their vehicles “in lieu of walking or cycling to their destinations,” Olson said.

Given its location near the Lynnwood Transit Center and future Lynnwood Link light rail station, the improved trail would also provide a non-motorized option for those traveling to and from that area, as well as provide access to the SWIFT bus-rapid transit routes on 196th Street Southwest, Olson said.

According to the city, the trail will mostly be constructed with a hard, smooth surface that is 10 to 12 feet wide with 2-foot soft shoulders. In a few wetland and stream areas, it will be built on an elevated boardwalk with a durable and slip-resistant surface.

There are three alignments under consideration for the trail improvements, and attendees at the Jan. 15 meeting gathered around a map of the proposed alignments — spread out on two tables — to talk with city staff and review the choices presented. Attendees were also asked to place stick-on circles on their preferred alignment.

The options being considered include:

Alternative 2.1, which would run along the existing roadway, replacing the current sidewalk and bike lane on the south side of 200th Street Southwest with a two-way shared use path that is separated from motor vehicles by a planter strip. To accommodate the trail widening while minimizing impacts, the trail would be bounded by a retaining wall adjacent to Sprague Pond; however, most existing vegetation would likely be removed. Trail users would cross Cedar Valley Road at the existing signalized intersection and use the sidewalk on the east side of the road to the entrance to Scriber Creek Park.

Alternative 2.2: Instead of running the trail along the road, this option would have the trail continue south through the Sprague Pond Mini Park and unopened right of way before turning east to cross Cedar Valley Road with a new mid-block crossing. This alignment would cross a relatively steep slope near the end of South 201st Street and require removal of some of the existing vegetation in this vicinity to construct retaining walls.

The intent would be to re-establish a vegetated buffer between the residential neighborhood and the commercial areas below while maintaining enough of visibility and lines of sight that trail users feel safe, the city said.

Alternative 2.3: This option avoids aligning the trail along the road and instead would build a structure that would cross Sprague Pond. “The idea would be to create a public amenity and increase public enjoyment of the lake while minimizing impacts to the lake and the wildlife that use it,” the city said in project materials, adding that the type of structure to cross the pond has not been decided.

In group discussions during the Jan. 15 open house, neighbors living near the trail project voiced worries about a variety of impacts that both alignments 2.2 and 2.3 would bring, from reducing the footprint of the already-small Sprague Mini Park to vegetation removal that could increase noise and soil erosion for nearby homeowners, to security concerns related to pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

Among them was John Koss, who has owned the office building at 20102 Cedar Valley Road at the south end of Sprague’s Pond — along with the pond itself — for nearly 30 years. Koss said his tenants include psychologists, mental health counselors, drug counselors, accountants, lawyers and insurance agents, and all of them appreciate the private setting the building provides.

“The main attraction of our building is its unique, serene and private setting on a privately owned pond,” Koss and co-owner James Perkins wrote in a letter sent to the Lynnwood City Council and Mayor Nicola Smith regarding the proposal.

Placing a bridge over the pond, as proposed in alignment 2.3, would also disrupt the wildlife that frequent the area, which include pond turtles, otters, green and blue herons, ospreys, kingfishers, and bald eagles, Koss and Perkins said.

“We do not understand why the city would be willing to cause financial damage to property owners, disruption to the environment and to spend exorbitant amounts of taxpayer money when other solutions are less impactful,” the letter added.

Koss and Perkins also said they opposes alignment 2.2, which circles behind his property and through the adjoining property to the south, as it will create additional security problems for the building, grounds and tenants.

The 2.1 option “does not infringe on any property owner and would be the least costly to implement,” they wrote. “It traverses public property already owned by the city.

According to city project materials, in identifying and evaluating alternative alignments, “staff considered potential cost, right of way acquisition needs, directness, critical area impacts, effects on access to and use of parks, visibility of trail use (safety and security of trail users), trail experience as a function of proximity to motor vehicles, number of road crossings, geotechnical challenge, and public acceptance.”

The city notes that this project is the first phase of a much larger project, which will eventually extend Scriber Creek Trail from Wilcox Park west to Lund’s Gulch and Meadowdale Beach Park.

An online survey for Scriber Creek Trail Improvements Phase 1 was conducted the first part of April 2018 to gain input from citizens and businesses. The city also hosted two focus group meetings in June 2018 to refine alternative choices.

Based on that outreach, the city confirmed alignments through Scriber Lake Park and Scriber Creek Park and added an alternative alignment for the connection between these two parks, the documents said.

Once a preferred alternative is selected, the city will provide opportunities for the public to provide input on — and learn about — the design as it progresses.

— By Teresa Wippel