SEQUIM — The U.S. Highway 101-East Sequim Road project has been pushed down the road due to the state’s projected budget shortfall.
Lawmakers have shelved construction for the $31 million corridor project through at least 2031 along with other previously discussed U.S. Highway 101 roundabout projects.
The corridor project would finish the Simdars Road interchange and create frontage roads from Palo Alto Road and Happy Valley Road off the highway.
The state’s pending $78 billion biennial budget does include $94,000 for the Sequim-area corridor project as part of the Move Ahead Washington grant transportation project list, but the funds are significantly less than the $2.6 million originally allocated for design work.
About $27 million for construction is no longer on the projects list for the 2025-27 biennium.
Sen. Mike Chapman, D-Port Angeles, said the project is “not a high-priority project for the overall state transportation system” and that he’s skeptical it will ever be funded.
State Rep. Steve Tharinger, D-Port Townsend, the chair of the House Capital Budget Committee, echoed that sentiment.
“The challenge is the funding model for transportation, which is a gas tax, a depleting source of revenue,” he said.
With a 6-cent gas tax included in the budget, Tharinger said it looks to maintain road maintenance and address the highest need of poor traffic areas.
“Until there’s a different revenue source, it’s going to be hard to do these second-tier projects,” he said.
“Not to say never. If you look at the state’s transportation needs, the project in Sequim, although important regionally, and we’ve tried to keep it on the list, compared to other needs on the list isn’t as high.”
Two years ago, the Sequim-area project had moved up on the state’s project list from the 2031-33 biennium.
Now with the project on hold, it’ll be more than 30 years since it was originally included as part of the 4.6-mile U.S. Highway 101 bypass opened in 1999. However, the Simdars Road interchange was built with only an eastbound on-ramp and westbound off-ramp in east Sequim due to a budget shortfall.
After sitting dormant for decades, funds and plans have pivoted in recent years following advocacy from local municipalities and entities.
Paul Bucich, Sequim’s Public Works director, said city staff expect a six-year delay for the project. He said it’ll be more expensive the longer it’s delayed, and it will be more dangerous driving in the area.
“The connections for Happy Valley, Palo Alto and Whitefeather Way are very important to local city and (Clallam County) residents,” Bucich said.
“Those locations are already difficult for accessing onto and off (the highway, and) the longer this goes on and the more the area develops, the more dangerous the intersections will become.”
Completion of the Simdars interchange also is part of the Sequim City Council’s vision and Comprehensive Plan for the east side of the city, he said.
Tharinger, a former Sequim-area resident, said the interchange being completed would be helpful.
“It’s still on the list.,” he said. “We’ve held it up on a fairly high level. It’s a second-tier project, rather than a must have. We’ll keep working on it.”
The Sequim road project was discussed at the Sequim City Council work session in September 2024 with lobbyist Davor Gjurasic saying that, if the 2021 Climate Commitment Act (CCA) was repealed by Initiative 2117, transportation projects could be realigned and impact the project.
Tharinger said in a previous interview that CCA funds go to projects, such as installing charging stations, and those funds lessen funding competition for projects like Sequim’s interchange.
The initiative failed in a statewide vote, 62 percent to 38 percent. Tharinger said the Sequim road project is a budget issue.
“There’s just not enough money in the CCA or the transportation budget (this cycle for the interchange),” he said.
State media outlets and lawmakers estimate Washington’s budget shortfall to be nearly $16 billion over the next four fiscal years.
With full funding delayed for the Sequim project, Bucich said city leaders will continue to speak with legislators each budget cycle about the need for the project.
Sequim did receive $500,000 toward an emergency fueling station. Tharinger said it “gets them a long way down the road.”
Bucich said city officials are grateful for some funding, which “will go a long way towards ensuring we have the necessary fuel to serve the community during emergencies.”
Tharinger called this budget cycle challenging, and cuts in Washington, D.C., chaotic because they could further impact funding in Washington state. He said rallies across the nation and in Clallam County are helpful in conveying messages, along with contacting Washington’s federal lawmakers about impacts and personal stories.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. He can be reached by email at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.
