QUILCENE — Three alternatives for a project to slow traffic on U.S. Highway 101 through Quilcene will be presented at a community workshop.
Organizers hope that a single solution for a safer thoroughfare will emerge from the April 19 workshop.
The third Community Design Workshop will be from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Quilcene Community Center, 294952 U.S. Highway 101.
The goal is to make the 1.2-mile portion of Highway 101 that runs through Quilcene safer for pedestrians, bicyclists and students by getting motorists to respect the 30 mph speed limit.
The target area is from US Bank to the Community Center.
A master plan will be developed with public input about the three slightly different plans that will be presented, said Eric Kuzma, Jefferson County engineering services manager.
“When people see the three alternatives, they will be able to say what they like, and we can piece together a plan from the three that will be generally acceptable,” Kuzma said.
“The idea is to make everything safer and get traffic to slow down.”
Kuzma spent Friday speaking to Quilcene business owners along the highway.
He showed them representations of the three options and will incorporate their suggestions into the workshop presentation.
Reaction to the plan was positive, Kuzma said.
Some business owners said they would lose some parking spaces “but they generally liked what they are seeing,” he said.
The project may include streetscape improvements such as traffic signs and beacons, pedestrian scale lighting, and landscaping and pedestrian features to serve as visual cues to slow drivers in Quilcene.
The foundation of the project is developing sidewalks and bicycle lanes, Kuzma said.
Two plans include sidewalks on both sides of the street from the bank to the community center and on one side beyond that point.
The third plan proposes sidewalks on both sides, something that “we don’t know if we can afford,” Kuzma said.
Two examples of unsafe areas are a curve just south of Quilcene School with limited visibility and an area in front of Peninsula Foods at 294682 Highway 101, where store customers often make hazardous U-turns, according to Tom Brotherton, whose family owns and operates the Quilcene Village Store.
Currently the road has three lanes: north, south and a turn lane down the center.
The turn lane is often used as a passing lane, which can create a dangerous situation, Kuzma said.
With bike lanes on both sides, the remaining space would allow only two lanes, which Kuzma said will slow traffic.
Crosswalks would be at key intersections, with the possible construction of “pedestrian refuges,” small concrete risers in the middle of the road on which pedestrians can stand and wait for a lane to clear.
“With a pedestrian refuge, people only need to look in one direction at a time,” Kuzma said.
“If you have to wait for the other lane to clear, you are protected.”
In October, Jefferson County commissioners approved two contracts with consultants to develop a design for eliminating traffic hazards and to encourage drivers to observe the 30 mph speed limit.
The Fischer-Bouma Partnership of Bainbridge Island is to receive $18,000 for landscape architecture and design services while civic engineering firm SJC Alliance in Olympia will receive $8,430 to develop the implementation of the plan.
To access the latest information about the project, go to tinyurl.com/PDN-streets.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
