PORT ANGELES –Clallam County’s three commissioners will vote today on a $240,000 agreement with David Evans and Associates for design services on an interchange at U.S. Highway 101 and Deer Park Road.
County officials say the $7.5 million overpass east of Port Angeles is needed because the intersections at Deer Park and Buchanan roads are dangerous and will only worsen.
Commissioners first mulled the idea of putting an overpass there in early 2001.
The agreement for preliminary engineering was scheduled for board approval next week.
“Is there a reason we’re waiting a week?” Commissioner Mike Chapman asked in Monday’s work session.
The board amended its agenda for today’s meeting to include the agreement.
“It’s a high priority with them [the commissioners], so we want to make this happen as soon as possible,” said Rich James, Clallam County senior transportation planner.
The nationally known firm, David Evans and Associates Inc., will determine how tall the bridge will be.
That information will correlate with the amount of fill needed on either side of the overpass, which determines how much right of way the county needs to buy, James explained.
State involvement
Before the county can build the overpass, the state Department of Transportation must approve the design.
“They’ve basically got to sign off on the fact that everything we do will meet standards,” James explained.
After David Evans and Associates completes the preliminary engineering, the county will conduct its own right of way and topographic map surveys, James said.
The interchange comes with a full-service rest area.
About $6.5 million is already secured through county and state funds.
The county expects to meet the remaining $990,000 with money from the federal transportation budget.
Craig Jacobs, Clallam County public works director, has said the earliest the Deer Park Road overpass project would go to bid is spring 2010.
Since 2001, there have been 47 reported wrecks and four fatalities at the highway intersections with Buchanan and Deer Park roads, county statistics show.
A study prepared by David Evans and Associates yielded 10 possible designs.
The selected alternative puts the overpass near Old Deer Park Road and eliminates left turns across the busy highway.
WSU Extension Center
Washington State University’s Extension Centers are facing deep budget cuts, but it still isn’t clear how severe those cuts will be.
Curtis Beus, Clallam County extension director, briefed the commissioners Monday on an bleak outlook from Olympia.
“None of it looks good,” Beus said.
Three weeks ago, WSU President Elson Floyd told staff that “everything is on the table,” as the state Legislature mulls its biennial budget for 2009-2011, Beus said.
A House proposal called for a 29 percent cut to WSU and other state universities with a 10 percent tuition increase.
The Senate version proposed a 20 percent cut with a 7 percent tuition increase.
In February, Washington State University Provost Warwick Bayly said a 12 percent to 18 percent cut in the school’s budget could mean a 49 percent to 75 percent reduction for extension centers.
WSU Extension runs a variety of programs in all 39 counties, including 4-H, Master Gardeners, youth leadership, economic development, water quality and natural resource programs, food and farm networking, fire prevention and forestry.
Beus said the budget impact on WSU Extension likely won’t be known until May.
“It’s my guess that the extension centers will be hit harder than most of the parts of the university,” he said.
“I do suspect we will take a fairly big hit.”
OPNET grant sought
The Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team will get a full-time crime analyst to assist investigators if the county wins a $69,540 Edward Byrne Memorial grant.
Also discussed was the $48,686 Byrne recovery grant awarded to the county from federal stimulus funds, which will be used for a fingerprint scanner for the Sheriff’s Department and crime scene investigation equipment.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
