Replacement of a culvert intended to improve the passage of water and salmon will also make it easier for people to travel beneath busy Coal Creek Parkway.

The City Council Monday approved additional funding for design of a six-foot-wide walkway that will be part of a previously planned culvert replacement. The new 39-foot wide concrete box culvert will replace a nine-foot diameter corrugated metal culvert, which was built in the early 1980s and is now heavily corroded.

The culvert is located where the creek passes under Coal Creek Parkway Southeast, a short distance from the street’s intersection with Forest Drive in south Bellevue. Replacement of the culvert addresses the need to maintain the city’s stormwater system, and the desire to enhance salmon populations by removing barriers to upstream habitat.

The council’s decision adds $93,000 to the project, bringing the cost of the culvert design to $934,000. The total budgeted for design and construction of the culvert is $6 million.

The addition of the walkway is expected to save approximately $60,000 – what it would have cost to build a trail extension allowing pedestrians to cross Coal Creek Parkway at an existing crosswalk. Walkers will be able to avoid the four-lane roadway altogether, improving safety.

The additional funding for the walkway will come from a voter-approved 2008 Parks and Natural Areas Levy that includes money to build “missing links” in Bellevue parks and trails.