PORT ANGELES — Long-held plans to turn Lauridsen Boulevard into a cross-town truck bypass exited this week from the city’s land-use plan.
City Council members voted unanimously Tuesday to remove a policy from the comprehensive land-use plan that targeted the south Port Angeles thoroughfare for future, though unfunded, improvements to accommodate increased traffic.
In approving the comprehensive plan revisions, council members also decided that cross-town truck-route improvements of any kind should not be given a high priority in the city’s capital facilities plan.
The 212-page comprehensive plan contains land use, housing, capital facilities and utilities and public service elements, along with the transportation element that was changed Tuesday.
The plan addresses how the city will accommodate a projected 5,000 new residents through the next 20 years.
Alternate route
Establishment of a cross-town alternate route had been in the comprehensive plan since 1994.
Lauridsen would have been improved to reroute downtown truck traffic that has waned compared to decades ago, when chains of logging trucks rumbled down U.S. Highway 101 to congested Front Street and reconnected with U.S. Highway 101 at Tumwater Truck Route.
“The times are changing from what they used to be,” downtown Family Shoe Store owner Kevin Thompson said Thursday.
But trucks still make their way down Front Street.
“Of course, it would be very nice to have that out of our area or an alternate route that’s better for truckers and better for people,” he said.
“If our community is headed more toward tourism and waterfront development, things of that nature, having the heavy truck traffic downtown is not only dangerous, it’s not clean.”
Councilmen Brad Collins, who had defended the plan’s language, and Lee Whetham, who has opposed it, took leading roles Tuesday in eliminating language that allowed the 212-page document to move forward.
Their efforts enabled the council to unanimously approve the plan, which under state law municipalities must pass by June 30.
Whetham in particular urged the removal of Lauridsen Boulevard and truck-route references from the comprehensive plan.
Safety concerns
He said numerous residents have expressed safety concerns about mixing truck traffic with the residential neighborhoods, Franklin Elementary School children and Port Angeles Library patrons.
Houses also thickly line the 100-foot-wide street. Increased usage is expected with the planned arrivals of a new Head Start facility and new Port Angeles unit of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula.
“What I am speaking out against is the possibility of one of those young kids running across that road,” Whetham said.
He made his vote for the plan contingent on removing the Lauridsen Boulevard improvements.
The idea was for Lauridsen to connect with Race Street, which is being improved as an entryway to Olympic National Park, and divert traffic at Race Street and Highway 101.
“The most controversial issue in the first plan was the alternate cross-town route,” Collins said.
“In the end, the council was unwilling to designate any other route.”
Removed from plan
Council members removed the following section entirely from the comprehensive plan:
“The city should facilitate the development of a cross-town truck route with improvements, which provide full access to [state Highway] 117 to and from U.S. [Highway] 101, and improvements to the Lauridsen Boulevard bridge over Peabody Creek and the intersections of Lauridsen Boulevard at Race Street and US 101.”
The bridge over Peabody Creek at Race and Lauridsen was replaced in 2014 as part of a $5.8 million project — $1.1 million of it city money.
The purpose was to “allow truck traffic to make the turn and follow Lauridsen as intended for the cross-town alternative to Highway 101,” according to the plan.
The bottleneck intersection of Lauridsen at Race and 101 has not been improved.
Council members also removed “along Lauridsen Boulevard” from the following section:
“The City should facilitate an additional route for local cross-town traffic along Lauridsen Boulevard across White’s Creek ultimately connecting with U.S. 101.”
Lauridsen Boulevard connects directly with 101.
Finally, council members eliminated the “and cross-town truck route” language from the following policy:
“Alternate local cross-town route and cross-town truck route improvements should be given a high priority in capital facility planning.”
The capital facilities plan that the council also approved Tuesday still includes an unfunded $284,072 “Alternate Cross-Town Route Study” that leaves the door open for city officials to address downtown traffic issues.
Nathan West, city community and economic development director, said elimination of Lauridsen as a specific solution will refocus the energies of transportation planners.
“We will be wanting to focus more on future bottleneck issues and traffic-related issues without, at this time, specifying one particular road or corridor and without, at this time, specifically focusing on trucks,” West said Thursday.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
