Bellingham City Council Public Works and Natural Resources Committee

The Public Works and Natural Resources Committee met Monday morning to review four agenda items, two informational presentations and two action items. The meeting showcased the city's evolving approach to transportation planning with updates on the new Community Streets Program and ongoing Holly Street bike facility planning, while also handling routine but necessary business items. The Community Streets Program completed its inaugural year with notable success, processing over 400 public responses and ultimately selecting five locations grouped into four improvement projects scheduled for summer 2026 construction. The program demonstrated strong community engagement while revealing that 68% of complaints addressed arterial streets, highlighting a gap in the city's traffic safety response framework. Holly Street bike facility planning continues its multi-year journey with an alternatives analysis now underway, examining six corridor segments from Ellis to Broadway. The analysis faces significant engineering and political challenges, particularly around the Bay-Champion transition area and parking removal in the western sections. The committee approved two action items: granting a telecommunications franchise to Forged Fiber 37 LLC (an AT&T subsidiary acquiring Lumen assets) and awarding a $1.5 million police building exterior repair contract to Summit Construction Group. Both items passed unanimously 3-0. #