Lasher Street Improvement

Life is difficult. The cross section and condition of Lasher Street make it more difficult.

Lasher Street is 0.2 miles in length and climbs 90 feet from Vancouver Avenue to its terminus (~8.5% average grade). At its terminus sits Cascade Village, a 36-unit affordable housing community. The people living there are underserved. Lasher contains 2 narrow lanes, no pedestrian facilities, no/limited shoulders, inadequate intersection sight lines, no/limited stormwater controls/treatment. On Upper Lasher, fire hydrant coverage is inadequate. Downhill speeding threatens pedestrians. Lower Lasher is crumbling. Tenants on Lower Lasher compete for the limited street parking Vancouver Avenue.

This project intends to make life easier by transforming Lasher Street from its dangerous, undervalued condition into a Complete Street prioritizing pedestrians and safety. The project will add sidewalks, pedestrian lighting, landscaping, and calming traffic features.

This project comes directly from our citizens. In 2022, the City surveyed the tenants of Cascade Village about the need for, and ideal location of, a sidewalk to serve them. They rated the safety of school-bound children as half-way between nightmarish and fine (2.5 out of 10). They overwhelmingly saw sidewalks as an improvement to this situation. They prioritized Lasher over 2 other routes.

The City has since developed concept plans and initiated several funding applications to ensure the needs of the Lasher Street community are served.