West Illinois Multimodal Improvements

Project Overview

The West Illinois Multimodal Project (ES561) added sidewalks to West Illinois and added and upgraded ramps to ADA standards. In addition, a small roundabout will be installed at the intersection of Meridian Street and West Illinois and the existing signal will be removed.

Bike facility markings will be placed on Meridian, Illinois and Girard Streets and Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFBs) will be installed at Meridian/North Street, Meridian/Oregon Street and Girard/H Street. The Oregon and H Street crossings will have new pedestrian ramps installed as well.

The purpose of this project is to improve pedestrian, bicyclist, and driver safety in the area. This project is happening around the same time as our Parkview Safe Routes to School project, which is just to the east of this project and started construction in 2023.

Map of project area showing that a roundabout will be installed at the intersection of West Illinois and Meridian and RRFBs will be installed on Meridian at Oregon Street and W. North Street and on Girard Street at H Street.
Map showing project area

Project Status – Summer 2025

Final striping, and some pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements are expected to be completed during the week of July 7, 2025. Travelers can expect some temporary lane closures at the intersection of West Illinois Street and Meridian Street during the week.

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More Information

West Illinois Street is identified in the 2012 Pedestrian Master Plan as a Tier 1 priority to complete significant sidewalk gaps between Meridian Street and Lynn Street at the northern edge of the Fountain District Urban Village and in the Columbia Neighborhood. The 2014 Bicycle Master Plan recommends marked bike lanes on West Illinois Street, as well as Meridian Street and Girard Street, as highlighted by the pink lines in this Bicycle Connectivity Graphic, but due to physical space constraints, on-street parking will need to be removed from one side of the corridor (BMP Table 3.14). Public Works conducted parking studies on both West Illinois Street and Meridian Street in January and February 2019.  

In 2019, Public Works commissioned the West Illinois Street Multimodal Corridor Traffic Study to examine the pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicular improvement needs on the West Illinois Street corridor from Sunset Drive to Lynn Street.

Check out aerial footage of the project site before construction in the videos below:

The City hosted a public open house and Q&A session on February 16, 2023 about the bike and pedestrian improvements happening in 2023 as part of the Parkview Safe Routes to School, West Illinois Multimodal, and Westside Non-Motorized Improvements projects. View a PDF of the presentation slides and recording of the presentation below.

This project is funded by the Bellingham Transportation Fund, a Washington State Transportation Improvement Board Grant, and Washington State Complete Streets.

Contact

​Freeman Anthony, P.E.
Phone: (360) 778-7924
Email: fanthony@cob.org

Media inquiries: Email pwmedia@cob.org

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Affected Neighborhoods

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