SEQUIM — City workers bracketed crosswalks on Washington Avenue in downtown Sequim with heavy and highly visible planters Tuesday to give pedestrians an “island” of protection in the middle of an increasingly congested part of town.
The planters are only an experiment for now, however, because officials from Clallam County Fire Protection District No. 3 worry that they may slow down emergency response times.
The planters are positioned in the center lane on either side of the midblock crosswalks in the downtown core area.
They’re meant to stop drivers from zooming down the center lane from two or three blocks away to make a left turn at Sequim Avenue — a practice that endangers pedestrians, city officials said.
Emergency center lane
But Washington Avenue is also the main corridor for fire trucks and ambulances to reach the east side of the city, said Fire Chief Steve Vogel.
When traffic stacks up downtown — which happens regularly — emergency vehicles until recently used the center lane to get past it.
“Now we’re seeing the traffic returning to Sequim,” Vogel said to City Council members Monday.
“We’re finding it very hard to get around town. . . . We don’t want slower responses on emergency 9-1-1 calls.”
Other city officials, however, said the planters don’t create additional obstacles and that fire district vehicles already have the tools they need to get through downtown quickly.
Response times will be monitored to see if the planters have a detrimental effect.
City Council members on Monday generally sided with keeping the planters, which are seen as a necessary safety measure for a pedestrian-friendly downtown.
