OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Although preliminary Hurricane Ridge visitation numbers are down, Port Angeles city officials hope to convince the federal government to continue funding to keep the road to the popular snowplay area open seven days a week all year long.
Port Angeles City Manager Kent Myers said he and Mayor Cherie Kidd plan to travel to Washington, D.C., in April to make the case for permanent funding of the all-year access.
No date has been set for a meeting with federal Department of Interior officials, Myers said Friday.
“We’re hoping to get a meeting around April 9,” he said.
The U.S. Department of the Interior, in response to a community-driven lobbying effort that raised about $75,000, put up $250,000 to pay for year-round access during the second year of a pilot project this winter season.
Until 2010, Hurricane Ridge Road, south of Port Angeles, was open daily only during the summer. During the winter, it was open only on weekends and some holidays.
Interior had provided the same amount last year, under the assumption the funds would be provided for two to three years, and that, if the effort succeeded in bringing more visitors to the Ridge, Interior would fund the entire cost after the pilot project ends.
“We would like the trial period to be over after this season,” Myers said.
“We feel like a two-year trial period has been sufficient, and we hope to be able to present the information to the Department of Interior in April and secure a long-term funding commitment.”
Preliminary visitation numbers have not reached a benchmark set by Olympic National Park, said acting Superintendent Todd Suess.
Suess said for the two-year program to be successful, traffic had to reach 45 percent of winter weekend traffic from 2005 to 2009 on weekdays and holiday Mondays during the special road-opening period.
But it reached 20 percent last year and is “slightly down from that” so far this year, Suess said Friday.
The average vehicle per day count so far this year is 33 vehicles. Last year, the average was 42.
“It is not meeting our goal now for measuring success,” he said. “We’ll wait until the end of the season to see what the numbers are.”
The preliminary numbers are from a survey period from Nov. 25 through Feb. 26.
The final numbers will be available after March 31, when the survey period ends.
Last year, the counting period started on Dec. 17, 2010, and ended March 31, 2011.
It started later last year because the park had to hire a new crew, Suess said.
Myers said the visitation goal was a number set by the staff of the Olympic National Park, not by the Department of Interior staff, which oversees national parks.
“The Department of the Interior had no benchmarks,” Myers said.
He emphasized that the numbers are preliminary.
“We are encouraging local residents and visitors to travel to Hurricane Ridge with the hope we can get those numbers up,” Myers said.
Said Kidd: “This is our time for us to show up and claim our right to have Hurricane Ridge open all year. If we don’t show up then, we may lose the right to have it open all week during the winter.”
When city officials meet with federal officials, they will talk about not only visitation but also economic benefits of having the road open.
Information about the economic impact on motels, restaurants and retailers of weekday visitors to the Ridge is being gathered now, Myers said. He expects to receive the final data for both visitation and the economic effects around April 1.
His impression now?
“It’s been a moderate boost,” he said, adding three things worked against the effort.
First was the weather. Snow was late this year.
“We didn’t get a lot of snow during the holiday season so the traffic we had anticipated did not materialize,” he said.
Another is “lack of marketing dollars. We think that a lot of people don’t know that the road is open.”
The third element, Myers said, is time.
“As more and more years go by, we feel that the word will get around.”
Suess suggested the preliminary traffic numbers don’t bode well for future funding.
“One would assume so, that it would have to meet the goals of success,” he said. “The city will have their side of the measuring success, the economic benefits.”
Myers said that in meetings with park officials, “they are not willing to take a position until the winter season is over.
“We’re hoping for good weather the next couple of weeks, hoping that visitation will increase, and we will have a better case to present to officials in D.C.,” Myers said.
The decision on future funding will be made by the Office of the Comptroller of the National Park Service of the U.S. Office of the Interior.
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Managing Editor/News Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3531 or leah.leach@peninsuladailynews.com.
Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
