SEQUIM – The traffic in this town is “unacceptable,” crashes are up 187 percent since 2003, and arrests of motorists driving under the influence of alcohol have leapt up since last year, said Sequim Police Cheif Robert Spinks in a report issued this week.
And in a presentation to the Sequim City Council on Monday night, Sequim Police Sgt. Ken Almberg outlined plans to target drivers who speed, follow other cars too closely or zip up Washington Street’s turn lanes, endangering pedestrians in mid-block crosswalks.
“It’s a $411 ticket,” Almberg said, if a driver is caught cutting around other cars by driving up the turn lane and through the crosswalks near the Washington Street-Sequim Avenue intersection.
Almberg added that police are apprehending many more drunken drivers since the U.S. Highway 101 Safety Corridor project ended in the spring.
For two and a half years, the state Department of Transportation ran the program, funding $101,000 worth of extra State Patrol presence on the highway.
The safety project focused on catching speeders, tailgaters and intoxicated motorists traveling the 32-mile stretch from the Clallam-Jefferson county line to the junction of highways 101 and 112.
Now that that’s history, Almberg suspects that the burden of enforcement is falling more heavily on the Sequim police force.
For example, DUI arrests in Sequim have risen from 22 in all of 2006 to 38 in the first three quarters of 2007.
“We don’t have the staffing out on 101 that we did during the safety corridor project,” acknowledged State Patrol Lt. Clint Casebolt.
