PORT ANGELES — Worries about the safety of a highway location approved for one of two new “Welcome to Port Angeles” monument signs has put the design choices on hold.
City Hall is asking a consultant to develop new designs for the signs that it wants to install at the east and west entrances into town on U.S. Highway 101.
The consultant, AECOM of Orlando, Fla., has developed two concepts thus far.
Both are preliminary, and the final choice of the design will depend on the locations.
Each of the two concepts was displayed at a public meeting on the city’s Waterfront and Transportation Improvement Plan last month.
Neither received overwhelming approval from the public, said Nathan West, city community and economic development director, so the staff want to see other sketches before asking the City Council to select one.
But now the city is putting a hold on new sketches until safety concerns raised by the planned placement of one of the large monument signs at the bottom of the Morse Creek S-curve on Highway 101 can be addressed.
The location is one of two that the City Council selected Tuesday. The other is at the Tumwater Truck Route-Highway 101 interchange on the west side.
Deputy Mayor Don Perry said placing a monument sign next to Morse Creek would distract drivers and might cause wrecks on the notorious S-curve east of town.
West said the city is asking the state Department of Transportation, AECOM, Clallam County and its consultant on the transportation portion of the improvement plan, Fehr Peers, to help determine if it would be a safety hazard.
That analysis may set the project schedule back a bit.
The city has planned to have the council select a design at one of its two meetings next month.
West said that schedule is still “realistic” but also emphasized that it will likely be “impaired.”
“To what extent, I’m not sure at this point,” he said.
If a large sign, possibly 30 feet tall, would be too much of a distraction for drivers at the bottom of the S-curve, the council will be asked to consider other options, West said.
The city is waiting for concerns with the eastside location to be resolved before finishing the design, based on input received at public meetings, he said.
West said the city received a lot of comments encouraging the council to set the locations before choosing the final design so that the scenery can be incorporated into the design.
The design won’t be finished until the locations are firm.
City personnel aim to install the monument signs next year.
Design and construction for the project is estimated at $50,000.
New directional signs approved by the council Tuesday are estimated to cost $225,000.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
