The Bonney Lake City Council amended the Washington State University Forest agreement during the Sept. 16 workshop to allow a traffic light at the future intersection of 204 Avenue East and state Route 410. The amendment passed 4-3.

“The council has worked hard over the last year or so to make sure the amendment was solid and benefit the citizens,” said Mayor Neil Johnson. “Connectivity and traffic flow were the biggest issues for the council, which were worked on extensively through the committee process with help from staff.”

The WSU agreement, passed by the City Council in 2009, allows Bonney Lake to develop 40 acres of the WSU Forest to attract commercial and medical business.

The original agreement, which also connected 204 Avenue East to state Route 410, did not allow for a traffic light to be installed at the future intersection.

The traffic light will allow drivers going west on SR 410 to turn left onto 204 Avenue East.

There is currently no plan to allow drivers going east on SR 410 to turn left onto 204 Avenue East.

The amendment also included language for the Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Development Company to talk to the Regal Movie Theater property owners and discuss connecting the parking lots of the two properties, which Johnson said, “is critical for the flow of traffic in that area.”

The intersection and traffic light is expected to be completed in 2015. The developer of the project will be responsible for the cost of the traffic light.

The traffic light will be synced to the six other lights between 192 Avenue East and 214 Avenue East. Transportation engineering agents from Weyerhaeuser claim that the addition of a seventh light will slightly decrease peak hour travel time for both east and west bound drivers.

The Seattle firm Transportation Engineering NorthWest indicated that SR 410 traffic flow will be slower overall with an additional traffic light, but traffic would be better guided with a traffic light than by an unsigned right in, right out system adjacent to the highway’s eastbound lane.

The City Council scheduled a public hearing on the amendment on Sept. 9, and moved the vote to the workshop in order to discuss one citizen comment and a 2005 email from the Washington State Department of Transportation.

“We wanted to make sure they got on the record and were discussed accordingly,” said Johnson. “The council did a good job in getting all questions answered.”

The 2005 email from WSDOT said that the department would not support a traffic light installation at that time. In an earlier interview this year, Johnson said that WSDOT will review their decision if the traffic light “is justifiable and makes better sense (than right in, right out access).”Wally Costello, a consultant for Weyerhaeuser said, “After the agreement is signed by all parties, the next step is to reach out to the WSDOT and begin the application process.” Costello said that discussions about installing the light should happen within the next month.

Johnson believes the council is looking forward to the businesses that will open in the area, “which will bring value to the citizens along with much needed reoccurring sales tax revenue to help fund parks, streets and sidewalks.”

“Hopefully this will help move our discussion regarding the parks plan for the WSU Forest forward,” he concluded.