PORT ANGELES — Clallam County commissioners Tuesday approved a transportation plan that contains 33 funded projects and 41 unfunded jobs that the county is eyeing between 2014 and 2019.
The six-year Transportation Improvement Program is an “important tool” for county officials to plan and seek grants for road, bridge, trail and safety projects, Transportation Program Manager Rich James said.
County transportation plans are updated every year and filed with the state Department of Transportation for inclusion on the state Transportation Improvement Program.
The local planning documents are used by the state Transportation Improvement Board, county Road Administration Board and the Department of Transportation itself.
They list the amount of federal, state and local funding that goes into preliminary engineering, right-of-way acquisition and construction phases for each project along with a six-year spending schedule.
Funded projects
Major projects funded for next year include:
■ A $260,000 federally funded interpretive center off state Highway 112 near the Elwha River.
“We’re going to put a kiosk structure in there and some interpretive boards,” James said.
■ Completion of the federally funded $7.9 million Deer Park undercrossing of U.S. Highway 101 east of Port Angeles.
Crews broke ground on the underpass last summer.
“It’s probably $2 [million] to $3 million worth of work next year,” James said.
“It will be open by fall at the latest.”
■ A $748,000 federally funded replacement of the Old Olympic Highway bridge across McDonald Creek in Agnew.
■ A $1.3 million state and locally funded widening and reconstruction of Old Olympic Highway from east of Barr and Gunn roads to the bridge.
■ A $585,000 federally funded repaving of Old Olympic Highway between U.S. Highway 101 and the Siebert Creek Bridge.
■ Several improvements to the Olympic Discovery Trail at Lake Crescent and surrounding areas are slated for 2014.
$29.1 million plan
All told, the funded projects in the six-year plan add up to $29.1 million, with $8 million to be spent in 2014.
Clallam County’s 2014-2019 Transportation Improvement Program, often referred to as the TIP, was vetted by the county Planning Commission on Sept. 4.
“The Planning Commission held a public hearing on Sept. 4, and they passed the six-year TIP on the same night,” James said.
“Just a couple of recommendations came out of them.”
The hearing resulted in a $970,000 unfunded project to repair slide damage to Hoko-Ozette Road at Milepost 19.5 within Olympic National Park.
The Planning Commission also recommended signs along a one-third-of-a-mile section of Old Blyn Highway where Olympic Discovery Trail users share the road with motorists.
“The Planning Commission just wanted that to be signed as a bicycle route so people expect the presence of bicycles there,” James said.
Public feedback resulted in another unfunded project to build a nonmotorized trail through the SunLand community north of Sequim.
“We heard from the SunLand Homeowners Association that they wanted the consideration of a bicycle-pedestrian pathway on the south side of Taylor Boulevard between Sequim-Dungeness Way and Holland Road, which would be about a mile,” James said.
The path would cost about $380,000 and would be funded by the county road fund.
Unfunded projects in the 2014-2019 transportation plan amount to $32.6 million.
________
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
