PORT ANGELES — An ambitious proposal to reroute U.S. Highway 101 along a new road that would include five bridges and a tunnel under homes north of Park Avenue was unveiled to the City Council.
Project proponents Tyler Ahlgren and Ed Tuttle said the written proposal presented Tuesday night wasn’t for a “Port Angeles bypass,” but an “alternative circulation route.”
The route would begin west of the Tumwater Truck Route and continue past South Pine Street to South Cherry Street.
Then two one-way tunnels would be built underneath Oak, Laurel, Lincoln, Chase, Peabody, Whidby and Vashon streets and Park Avenue, then underneath Race Street, emerging at Porter Street.
Roads would be built to allow U.S. Highway 101 traffic to access these streets.
The tunnel alignments would be south of Lauridsen Boulevard.
The tunnel entrances and exits would be just east of Race Street at the beginning of the Bonneville Power Administration utility easement.
Access to both directions
Roads would be built for access to both directions of Race Street and Lauridsen Boulevard as well as both directions of U.S. Highway 101, according to the written proposal.
Then the route would continue eastward along the Bonneville easement from White Creek across Golf Course Road, Ennis Creek, Monroe Road, Lees Creek, East Fork Lees Creek, Mount Pleasant Road, Morse Creek and Deer Park Road.
After crossing Deer Park Road, the route would veer northeast across Bagley Creek Road and connect with the present U.S. Highway 101 at Short Road.
The proposal would allow movement of products and supplies more efficiently, quickly and safely, Ahlgren told the City Council.
Tourists and other visitors would form a more favorable impression of the city without the negative impacts of heavy truck traffic, his written proposal stated.
Needs discussion
Ahlgren said the proposal needs “discussion and involvement,” adding that he has presented it to trucking companies, the state Department of Transportation and the Port Angeles Business Association, which heard it at its weekly meeting earlier Tuesday.
“Obviously, it’s a first draft idea. It will need a coalition,” he said.
