The City of Lakewood added pedestrian safety and road improvements to Hipkins Road. The work tied into improvements made in 2023 to Angle Lane and Elwood Drive. Improvements included adding sidewalks, curbs and gutters and streetlights. A roundabout was installed at the North Way and Hipkins intersection. A second roundabout at the Elwood/Dresden/87th intersection was installed during the summer of 2023.
Project details
Improvements
A new water main was installed underground. The chicanes were removed and sidewalks, curb, gutter, new asphalt and streetlights installed. A new roundabout was placed at the North Way and Hipkins intersection.
The improvements tied into the pedestrian and street improvements completed in July 2023 on Angle Lane and Elwood Drive.
Construction completed in the fall of 2024 for this project.
Common Questions
- What traffic calming measures has the design group investigated for incorporation on Hipkins, Angle, and Elwood?
- The City utilized a mixed bag of traffic calming strategies based on the location of the street and its traffic volume. For Hipkins, a roundabout at North Way (halfway between Steilacoom and 104th) was built. For Angle and Elwood, raised crosswalks went in.
During the initial design stage, concepts such as additional roundabouts, raised crosswalk speed tables, and sharper chicanes were discussed and heavily considered. Additional roundabouts required significant right-of-way acquisition and potential condemnation of a single-family residence at each location. We chose North Way because it is a cross intersection, and we use the right of way from the existing cross street to our benefit.
The city has never purchased a home for the construction of a roadway. It’s not an easy process, extremely expensive, and would delay the project years. Raised crosswalks (speed bumps for roadways, as we can’t install speed bumps like they have in parking lots) are not typically installed and per FHWA guidance should not be installed on arterial streets, particularly with the volume of Hipkins. Additionally, sharper chicanes would have a slowing effect, but if they were installed to the degree to have success, conflicting movements in opposing directions with larger vehicles could occur. While they have been endorsed by the design guidelines, they are not popular and with the radii required to remove conflicting movements, they aren’t terribly effective as evidenced by what exists out there today.
- The City utilized a mixed bag of traffic calming strategies based on the location of the street and its traffic volume. For Hipkins, a roundabout at North Way (halfway between Steilacoom and 104th) was built. For Angle and Elwood, raised crosswalks went in.
- Am I getting a cluster mailbox?
- Section 12.19 of the Lakewood Municipal Code requires cluster mailboxes be installed where existing mailboxes are required to be removed and replaced on Public Works projects. For this project, the only mailboxes that are being relocated are along Hipkins Road. 53 parcels will be switched to cluster mailboxes. If you live on Hipkins Road and are curious if you are within the switch limits, please contact the project manager Troy Pokswinski (253 983-7729) to discuss.
- How did the city plan for this and other road projects?
- In an ideal world, we would be constructing a new road where vehicles weren’t already traveling, funding would already be in the bank, all property required to construct the improvements already acquired, permits approved, utilities would be relocated, and designs and specifications complete and ready for bid. If one of the dream scenarios above boxes isn’t resolved, construction cannot proceed.
When preliminary design initiates, an estimated schedule is developed to establish the construction window for each project. This is done so that utility companies can schedule their work associated with the project and so that we can coordinate traffic control impacts internally and externally. For this project, the City developed staging plans, detour routes, and traffic control measures that are compatible with projects that were under construction (Washington Blvd.), as well as projects in the vicinity that will be under construction within the next year (Steilacoom Blvd. – 87th to Weller and the improvements inside Ft. Steilacoom Park).
Events like traffic accidents, water main breaks, or trees falling on utility lines on detour routes happen. The City does have a plan for contingent cases on our detour routes in the event of these emergencies. While traffic impacts from construction on Hipkins (currently carrying 10,000 vehicles per day), Steilacoom (up to 40,000) and Washington (25,000) will be felt, the City’s strategy to keep traffic moving through the corridors while upgrading these roads keeps the day-to-day commute above undesired levels of service. That strategy starts with completing Washington Blvd before starting construction on Hipkins.
- In an ideal world, we would be constructing a new road where vehicles weren’t already traveling, funding would already be in the bank, all property required to construct the improvements already acquired, permits approved, utilities would be relocated, and designs and specifications complete and ready for bid. If one of the dream scenarios above boxes isn’t resolved, construction cannot proceed.