CARLSBORG — Thousands of motorists in Clallam County will be affected on a daily basis by the proposed widening of U.S. Highway 101 from Shore to Kitchen-Dick roads.
Four years from now, the one-lane, 2.8-mile stretch of highway between Port Angeles and Sequim will have four lanes in both directions.
The stretch is the last two-lane link of the transcontinental highway between Port Angeles and Sequim.
Under the state Department of Transportation’s current design, drivers entering the highway from sidestreets like Barr, Dryke and Sherburne roads will not be allowed to turn left.
Instead, drivers will have to turn right and take one of six indirect left turns, which loop across the highway and back to the right lane of the intended direction.
A 40-foot-wide grassy median — like that to the west and east of the two-lane stretch — will discourage outlaws from turning left anyway.
Open house event
To update the public, the Department of Transportation will hold an open house Thursday night at Greywolf Elementary School’s gymnasium, 171 Carlsborg Road.
The open house is scheduled to run from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Transportation will have design, environmental and real estate service staff available to answer questions from the public.
“The additional lanes in this area will help reduce congestion and a wider median will improve safety by reducing the potential for head-on collision,” a Transportation official said in its latest update about the project.
Gov. Chris Gregoire in May signed a two-year transportation budget that included $53.8 million for preliminary engineering, right-of-way acquisition and construction of the new lanes.
If the project fails to get another $20 million in the next biennium, the design team will analyze the feasibility of alternatives that fit actual funding levels.
Long-awaited
The long-awaited project was dropped from the state’s 2005 transportation budget and reinstated in 2006.
The North Olympic Peninsula’s state legislative delegation — Rep. Kevin Van de Wege, D-Sequim, Rep. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, and Sen. Jim Hargrove, also D-Hoquiam — have championed the project.
Roughly 25,000 vehicles use that stretch of highway every day, Clallam County Transportation Program Manager Rich James said.
Between 400 and 800 vehicles use the county roads that intersect the highway, James said.
Under the current proposal, the existing highway will be used as westbound lanes between Shore Road and Pierson-Dryke Road.
The existing highway will be used as eastbound lanes between Pierson-Dryke Road and Kitchen-Dick Road.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
