One of Battle Ground’s oldest intersections is due for improvements, but residents should not expect construction until late next year.
Last week, Battle Ground’s City Council approved PBS Engineering and Environmental to complete design work for the Parkway Avenue/Main Street intersection for $120,926. Battle Ground Public Works Director Mark Herceg said the intersection will receive protected left-turn signals to reduce traffic impacts during peak hours.
“During some peak times there’s [traffic] issues, so this will help smooth that out,” Herceg said. “It’s safe to say this improves [road] safety.”
Herceg said the intersection’s proximity to Battle Ground High School and the city’s downtown district causes heavy traffic during four peak hours daily. On average weekdays, the crossing is slowed from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., noon, 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Herceg said the signals will switch to permitted left turns during non-peak hours to keep traffic moving. Protected left turns will ensure cars are not left waiting during peak traffic times.
The project’s design will include two phases, as staff will wait for the City Council to approve its Old Town Battle Ground plan. The plan will take public feedback and study Main Street’s downtown district to recommend traffic, utility and visual improvements, and may include recommendations for the intersection. A secondary design will incorporate elements of the master plan into the intersection improvements.
“[PBS] will do a basic design based on where we are, but we didn’t want to do the full thing because, until we know the results of that project, we don’t want to spend money that we then have to reverse. So there’ll be a second phase of design, which again, is not typical,” Herceg said.
The Old Town plan will be complete by summer 2025. The Parkway and Main intersection improvements will begin in late 2025 or early 2026, Herceg said. In addition, the crossing’s pedestrian sidewalk ramps and road surface will be resurfaced after years of wear.
92nd Avenue Pump Station construction expected soon
Over 400 acres of Battle Ground land will soon be ready for residential and commercial use.
Last week, the City Council agreed to pay Rotschy, a construction company from Vancouver, $3,869,714 to construct a pump station on Northeast 92nd Avenue, just north of Main Street. The site, on the city’s west boundary lines, will service 480 acres of land for residential and commercial use. Herceg said the system’s sewage lines will make developers eager to bring job and other opportunities to west Battle Ground.
“The intent is to make all of this property developable, and [we’re] trying to encourage that land for employment and [residents,]” Herceg said.
Land serviced by the pump station is zoned to allow roughly 1,200 residential units and can open an estimated 700 to 1,000 jobs for Battle Ground. The 480 acres will be ready for development once serviced by the pump station:
Area north of Main Street
• 110 acres of commercial and light industrial use
• 210 acres of residential neighborhoods
Area south of Main Street
• 80 acres of commercial business
• 80 acres of residential neighborhoods
Construction will begin in two to four weeks after the city receives a final permit from the Washington state Department of Transportation. Herceg said construction should conclude by late summer.
