PORT ANGELES — A memorable welcome to the city or a traffic hazard?
That is what the Port Angeles City Council debated earlier this week during a discussion regarding the placement of a “Welcome to Port Angeles” monument sign at the bottom of the Morse Creek S-curve, about 2.5 miles east of the city limit.
The council, with some members noting the pleasant, pastoral scene and the opportunity for drivers to pull over and to take photos of the structure, approved the location in a 5-1 vote Tuesday.
But not before Deputy Mayor Don Perry, who made the lone dissenting vote, weighed in on the potential dangers of placing a monument sign that could be 30 feet tall on the tight bend of U.S. Highway 101.
“I think we’re asking for trouble on that,” he said, noting that he has had close calls driving on the S-curve.
“You don’t have a fraction of a second to admire something that’s supposedly going to be fairly decent to look at,” Perry added.
The monument would sit on the north side of the highway at the intersection with Strait View Drive.
Heeding Perry’s concerns, the council directed staff to explore how dangerous it would be to place a monument there.
Staff will likely report on their findings to the council next month, said Nathan West, city community and economic development director, on Wednesday.
“If our findings determine that for any reason, there’s a lack of safety . . . we will probably ask them to select another location,” he said.
There have been 43 traffic wrecks, including three deaths, on the S-curve in the last four years, said State Patrol Sgt. Gailin Hester.
But he said he wouldn’t consider the area as one of most dangerous segments of Highway 101 in Clallam County.
The design of the monument sign is expected to be completed next month, but some preliminary designs depict it as having a stone base with wooden poles that reach 30 feet in height.
Hester said he wasn’t sure if it would make the curve more dangerous.
The monument sign is one of two the city wants to install next year as part of the Waterfront and Transportation Improvement Plan.
The other monument sign would be placed alongside the Tumwater Truck Route exit from Highway 101, the council agreed unanimously Tuesday, with council member Brad Collins absent.
That monument sign would be placed in the public right-of-way.
The eastside monument sign, which is in the county just outside of the city’s urban growth area, would be placed on land owned by the state Department of General Administration.
How far back that monument sign would be placed from the highway hasn’t been determined, said Roberta Korcz, city assistant planner.
Korcz said the property extends up to 115 feet away from the highway.
The monument sign was initially going to be placed at the top of the S-curve adjacent to the scenic overlook, which is located near Deer Park Road.
West told the council that the city changed the proposed location after Clallam County staff raised concerns about placing it next to the overlook.
The county had two issues with that location, said county Transportation Program Manager Rich James.
One is safety. He said it would be more likely for a vehicle to hit the monument there because it would be on an outside curve.
(The guardrail that would be in front of the sign at that location is made to collapse on impact.)
Also, it would impede the view of the Olympic Mountains.
James said county officials told city personnel that they would prefer to locate the monument sign at the bottom of the S-curve.
But he said the city wasn’t told that the county would not accept a monument sign next to the overlook.
City staff also proposed placing it on private property at Brook Avenue and Highway 101 near the Safeway store and near Baker Street.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
