Jefferson County will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the completion of the Highway 116 and Cedar Avenue Pedestrian-Bike Improvements Project next week.

The event is planned for 10 a.m. Wednesday, July 6  at the east end of the new multi-use path at Cedar Avenue.

The improvements were made as part of Washington state’s Safe Routes to School Program, and the upgrade is expected to improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists traveling along Cedar Avenue and to encourage students to walk and bike to the Chimacum Creek Primary School campus.

The new path was also designed to connect to the existing bike shelter on the school campus.

County officials said the Cedar Avenue improvements are the latest step in a trail network that will eventually connect the Port Hadlock and Chimacum core areas, Chimacum schools, Bob Bates Ballfields, and HJ Carroll Park.

This project is one step in a trail network that will eventually connect the Port Hadlock and Chimacum core areas, Chimacum schools, Bob Bates Ballfields, and HJ Carroll Park. 

The effort kicked off with the completion of the installation of the pedestrian facilities along Highway 19 at the Chimacum Safe Routes to School project in 2016.

The work along Cedar Avenue included new concrete sidewalks and bicycle lanes and full-access pedestrian crossings, a new paved multi-use path from Cedar Avenue to the Chimacum Creek Primary School campus, a concrete sidewalk from Cedar Avenue to the Jefferson County Library, a relocated Jefferson Transit bus stop, and pedestrian lighting along Cedar Avenue and the Multi-use Path. There are also pedestrian-activated flashing beacons on Highway 116 at the entrance to the Chimacum Creek Primary School. 

Jefferson County Public Utility District also relocated overhead utility lines to new underground facilities and installed the pedestrian lighting as part of the overall project.

Contractor Interwest Construction, Inc. completed the project construction at the beginning of June. 

The improvements were fully funded by a Washington State Department of Transportation, Safe Routes to School Program grant of $880,300.

People who plan to attend the ribbon cutting should park in the Chimacum Creek Primary School parking lot and walk (or bike) to the east end of the new multi-use path at Cedar Avenue, between the Jefferson County Library entrance and the Jefferson Transit bus stop. 

Attendees who require closer access may park in the Jefferson County Library parking lot or be let off at the Jefferson Transit bus stop.