City, landowner come to terms to get Lowell-Larimer fixed EVERETT - The city could have Lowell-Larimer Road restored to two lanes this fall after securing a deal with a property owner to come onto his property to fix the road.
The city needed an agreement in place to get onto Hugh Henrickson’s property because it’s the only access point to fix the section of the road. The road has been reduced to one lane since July 2011 for safety reasons. The city closed the lane after the shoulder slid down a slope caused by a landslide.
Henrickson’s property is below the slope and he hesitated for eight months on signing an agreement with the city out of concern the work would damage his farmland.
The city hopes it can start construction this fall depending on the weather, public works director Dave Davis said. If the weather holds, road work would start in October and finish by Christmas, Davis said.
“The cold doesn’t kill us, it’s the wet,” Davis said. A soggy fall would push work to next spring.
Last week, the City Council approved an agreement with Henrickson and put out a call for bids for a contractor.
Henrickson will be getting $16,500 in the agreement. The city will compensate Henrickson $4,500 for trees the city will cut down to do the work. The city also will give Henrickson $6,000 for him to build a barrier to keep rocks from falling onto his property, and $6,000 for the burden of coming onto his property.
The work will consist of building a 250 linear foot shoulder and is budgeted to cost $800,000.
The agreement came at a time when the city couldn’t wait any longer. The negotiating period took longer than expected, and the city was ready to start eminent domain proceedings to access Henrickson’s property in the 5900 block of Lowell-Larimer Road.
The city wanted to start the project by August or September before the fall rainy season.
The project is expected to be a quick fix.
