At its May 8 meeting, the Kenmore City Council recognized city staff for their efforts in achieving the highest level of the Complete Streets Award granted by the Washington State Transportation Improvement Board (TIB).

The city was nominated by the Washington State Department of Transportation and Washington State Department of Commerce for the award.

According to a city press release, Kenmore is the smallest of six cities in Washington to receive the maximum award, recognizing the city’s commitment to a complete streets ethic, considering all modes of travel and focusing on multimodal networks. Kenmore’s completed and planned projects to improve multimodal transportation and the city’s Target Zero initiative were a factor in the city’s selection for the maximum grant amount, the release states.

“This is a team award because it took the City Council’s direction and leadership to give us the resources we needed to be awarded at this level,” city manager Rob Karlinsey said at meeting. “This is an indication that we’re headed in the right direction and we appreciate the state for recognizing us.”

As part of the award, TIB granted the city $500,000 to be used toward future multimodal improvements. The city will use the funds toward a grant match on the Northeast 202nd Street sidewalks grant-funded Safe Routes to Schools project near Kenmore Junior High, which is likely to be under construction this summer, according to the release.