Harris Avenue, the historic spine of Bellingham's Fairhaven business district, is headed for a major rebuild that will tear up pavement from 10th Street to 24th Street to replace aging underground water and sewer pipes while adding sidewalks, bike lanes, streetlights and curb ramps that meet accessibility standards. The city is now asking residents to weigh in on which of two competing street designs should move forward before construction is expected to begin in 2030.
Robert Mittendorf, writing for the Bellingham Herald, reports that contractors will dig up the stretch of Harris Avenue running from Fairhaven toward Happy Valley to replace the underground pipes. Currently, the roadway has no bike lanes, curbs or gutters at all, and a sidewalk exists only on the south side between 14th and 24th streets, according to the same report. At one spot near 14th Street, the north side has no sidewalk whatsoever, a gap captured in images accompanying the Herald's coverage of a couple walking the corridor last Friday.
Two Designs, One $1.5 Million Gap
City planners are weighing two options for the rebuilt corridor. Option A would install protected bike lanes on both sides of the street, while Option B would pair a north-side sidewalk with a shared-use path for cyclists and pedestrians on the south side, according to the City of Bellingham. Per the Herald's reporting, Option A is expected to cost about $1.5 million more than Option B and would affect properties along the north side of Harris Avenue more than the alternative, while Option B is expected to reduce both costs and construction impacts while still providing similar levels of safety and comfort.
Tim Hohmann, assistant director of the public works department's transportation division, briefed the city council's public works and natural resources committee on the project Monday, the Herald reports. Hohmann said the city is deliberately coordinating the above-ground transportation improvements with the underground utility work. The city says that building new infrastructure at the same time the pipes are being replaced helps reduce costs. The city is weighing cost, impacts on nearby properties, safety, on-street parking, place-making and consistency with existing city plans as it decides between the two designs, per the same report.
Public Comment Period Open Through Mid-November
The City of Bellingham is soliciting community input before selecting which option will move into design, according to the city's project page. Officials have said public input is a critical part of the process, and the city is taking public comments on the proposed designs through November 15, as outlined on Engage Bellingham per the Herald's account.
The project is currently shown as partially funded by the Street Fund in the city's Six-Year Transportation Improvement Program, the city's project page notes. That program itself flows from state law: under RCW 35.77.010, Washington cities and towns are required to develop and annually update a Six-Year Transportation Improvement Program and hold a public hearing before the city council adopts it, according to the City of Bellingham 2025-2030 Transportation Improvement Program.
Part of a Broader Multimodal Push
The city frames the Harris Avenue work as part of a larger strategy of combining utility and multimodal safety improvements to minimize environmental impacts and reduce costs, according to the city's project description. Once the utility upgrades are finished, Bellingham plans to implement high-priority corridor projects identified in updates to its 2024 Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan, the city says.
That approach fits a longer pattern in Bellingham's transportation planning. For more than two decades, the city has infused complete-street principles into its transportation plans, goals, policies and projects, according to the city's long-range planning office. Bellingham's planners and engineers are directed to consider the safety and mobility needs of pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders and vehicle drivers alike, with a priority emphasis placed on the most vulnerable user groups. The city's Complete Network Ordinance also formalizes that commitment to multimodal planning and requires mayoral approval for any deviations or exemptions from its Complete Network Policies, per the City of Bellingham.
For now, the project's total cost and construction timeline remain undetermined beyond the city's goal of breaking ground in 2030. Fairhaven residents and anyone who walks, bikes or drives Harris Avenue have a few more weeks to tell the city which version of the street they'd rather see built.
