PORT ANGELES — It would be hard for Sue Liedtke to take the bus to Walmart even if she wasn’t blind, the Forks woman said.
Clallam Transit’s new bus stop on eastbound U.S. Highway 101 requires shoppers to cross a busy intersection and hike two-tenths of a mile to the Supercenter at 3471 E. Kolonels Way, which opened Oct. 27.
Buses don’t stop in front of the new Port Angeles Walmart as they did at the old shopping center, which closed Oct. 26.
Instead, the public bus system has placed bus stops on both sides of the highway.
Transit officials said the bus route won’t go into the Supercenter because there’s too much liability involved, and nixing the front-door service will improve the on-time performance of the system’s most popular route — the No. 30 Sequim commuter.
That decision, reached years ago when the Supercenter was being planned, does not sit well with some riders.
“I’ve got nothing against Clallam Transit and nothing against Walmart, but they’ve got to get together and figure out a way to fix this problem,” said Liedtke, 57.
‘Hazardous situation’
“It’s pretty dangerous. Cars always go whizzing back and forth. It’s noisy. Grocery carts are left out there. It’s just a hazardous situation.”
Because she is legally blind, Liedtke said the highway crossing is virtually impossible.
“I could not cross it by myself,” she said.
“I would have to grab a stranger to get across. . . . It’s a good thing I’m not shy because I’ve done that before, grabbed people and said, ‘Can you help me get over there?'”
Liedtke didn’t need a stranger’s help Tuesday.
She was ushered across the highway by Clallam Transit General Manager Terry Weed and board member Pat Downie, who is also a Port Angeles City Council member.
Both rode the No. 30 bus with Liedtke and walked her to the store.
Weed: Very difficult
“From the perspective of an individual like Sue, who is more than partially blind, in those conditions and on her own, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to get there,” Weed said.
Downie said the crossing is dangerous because the pedestrian light is too short.
“I have to say the three of us crossing that street with her, bless her heart, that was pretty intimidating,” Downie said.
“That [crosswalk] in itself is a safety hazard, in my opinion.”
Weed and Downie were there to see firsthand what Liedtke had complained about at the last Transit board meeting.
They noted the lack of a crosswalk siren.
“I’m not sure if those will be of any assistance,” Weed said, referring to the highway noise.
“That’s one thing we learned. For the most part, it was a good exercise. It does point out the value in a second service, and that’s Paratransit, if she [Liedtke] chose to use it.”
Anyone who qualifies as disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act and all citizens older than 80 can ride Paratransit, a specialized van that provides door-to-door transportation service for those who have a hard time getting around.
Bremerton-based Paratransit Services has operated under a contract with Clallam Transit since 1988.
Paratransit in parking
“I noted when we were walking her back to the bus stop, a Paratransit van was coming to the parking lot,” Downie said.
Liedtke said she rides fixed routes because of Paratransit’s cost, inconvenience and space constraints, which limit the amount of merchandise she can bring back.
“There’s some people that are 75, and they take bus; they don’t qualify for Paratransit,” Liedtke added.
She takes the transit bus from Forks to The Gateway transit center and then climbs on the Sequim commuter to go to Walmart.
If she wants to take the Sequim commuter and avoid crossing the highway at the store, Liedtke’s only other option is taking the No. 30 bus all the way to Sequim and stopping at Walmart on the return trip to Port Angeles.
“It’s not just about me,” Liedtke said.
“If I got a petition, I bet I could get 1,000 signatures, easy.”
Liedtke said she understands where the public bus agency is coming from.
A shuttle bus?
She just hopes the agency and Walmart will put their heads together and consider an alternative, like a shuttle bus that crosses the highway.
“I appreciate that Terry went out and did this with me,” Liedtke said.
“He didn’t have to do that. Clallam Transit is a good company.
“I’ve relied on them for many, many years. They’ve gone above and beyond for me and my husband, [Dean].”
Ideally, Liedtke hopes to see Clallam Transit and Walmart “figure out a simple way to pull the bus in front of the store [on Kolonels Way] and go back out again without even having to hit the parking lot.”
Downie said he will draft a memo and submit it to transit staff and other board members about the crossing.
The next board meeting will be at 1 p.m. Monday, Nov. 15, at the Clallam Transit System office building at 830 W. Lauridsen Blvd., Port Angeles.
“I’m hopeful that there will be a subsequent meeting or conference held between the state Department of Transportation, senior management at Walmart and the transit staff to look into what I think is a legitimate question and concern raised by Sue,” Downie said.
“It’s kind of a complex issue, and it certainly deserves further discussion.”
Pedestrians who cross the highway and want to follow the sidewalk to Walmart must also cross Kolonels Way. The sidewalk is on the left side of the Supercenter’s access road.
Walmart-bound Transit passengers — other than Weed, Downie and Liedtke — on the 11 a.m. bus Tuesday simply walked down the right side of the road, which does not have a sidewalk.
Original plans for the Supercenter did not include a designated bus route. The sides agreed against it in the early planning phase six or seven years ago, Weed said.
“There are two or three principal issues for the Transit board and Terry in this whole matter,” Downie said.
Private property
“An especially important one is the liability of operating a large commuter bus, like the one that goes back and forth between Sequim and Port Angeles, on private property.”
Weed said there were a few minor fender benders involving Transit buses in the old Walmart parking lot.
Downie said the same about the Rite Aid parking lot east of Port Angeles, where the No. 20 bus stops.
“Sooner or later, rather than just a fender bender, there could be a serious accident,” Downie said.
“That [Walmart] is a very busy parking lot. There are people going every which way out there.”
Weed said keeping the bus stops on the highway is consistent with the philosophy of mass transit.
“We’re not a door-to-door service,” he said.
“Our principle here is we want to stay off private property. The reason is that we run heavy buses these days. That tends to break up and damage parking lots that aren’t designed to accommodate that weight.”
Transit has been asked to pay for paving projects in the past.
“For that reason, we prefer not to go on private property,” Weed said.
“The other issue is liability and safety. It’s a very hazardous, close-knit dynamic.”
Bus on time
Furthermore, the poor on-time performance of the No. 30 bus affects passengers who transfer to other buses throughout the system, including the Forks shuttle and Jefferson Transit.
“The on-time performance is not good, not on that particular route,” Weed said.
Bypassing the front of the new Walmart will save about two minutes on the eastbound bus and five minutes on the westbound line, Weed said.
Judy McClanahan of Forks, a friend of Liedtke’s, said the Walmart bus stops are a “horrible problem” for the disabled, elderly and children in strollers.
“Somebody’s going to get killed,” she said.
“That is such a dangerous situation. Time schedules and asphalt doesn’t make bit of difference compared to a life.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
