SEQUIM –– The future of transportation in Sequim will be the topic of a public hearing before the City Council tonight.
At the session at 6 p.m. in the Sequim Transit Center, 190 W. Cedar St., Public Works Director Paul Haines will give the council a list of more than $35 million in potential improvements to the city’s transportation grid over the next 20 years.
The council is expected to vote on the issue July 8.
Among the goals in the plan, which was approved by the planning commission in April, are upgrading routes for traffic to move east and west.
The plan is intended to relieve congestion on Washington Street, which sees more than 10,000 cars each day.
While the west end of Washington has the most traffic, with 13,500 daily cars, the street’s downtown portion was cited as the main clog.
Traffic typically peaks midday.
More signaling on Fir Street was suggested to create an arterial to the north of Washington Street, with the same improvement to Prairie Street creating an alternate cross-town route to the south.
Another traffic light at either Brown Road or Blake Street also was suggested.
Summer festival traffic, it was noted, is often backed up for the entire length of Washington Street.
Another traffic light on the east end could alleviate that, the study said,.
The plan also calls for improvements to allow people to get around easier without their cars.
It includes several routes to allow bicyclists who enter the city on the Olympic Discovery Trail to easily re-connect with the trail on the other side of town.
The planning commission also urged more room be given on sidewalks to keep pedestrians and those on electric mobility scooters separated for safety.
The city’s last traffic study was performed in 2006.
Haines said growth rates now are slower than those used in the previous study.
A citizen committee of Dick Petit, Liisa Fagerlund, Paul Gruver, Chuck Preble and Larry Kilmer helped prepare the draft of the 2013 plan, consulting with the contracted engineering firm of Fehr & Peers of Seattle.
Funding will be the main obstacle in improving the street system, the study said.
Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Joe Smillie can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at jsmillie@peninsuladailynews.com.
