More sidewalks and bike paths and less gravel conversion projects.
These were some of the comments from islanders at the recent San Juan County Open House on Thursday, March 6, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m., Eastsound Fire Hall. Representatives from Public Works and the county discussed everything from the Critical Areas Ordinance to better shoreline access to the Mt. Baker road project.
Shoreline access
Jesse Douglas-Seitz, an engineer tech for the county, discussed maps that have been recently created to show county roads that intersect with shorelines. The county is looking at ways to enhance these intersections through signage, walking paths or short-term parking lots.
“The cool thing is that we are looking at shore access for people who live on the islands,” said Douglas-Seitz.
Critical Areas Ordinance
The current installment of the Critical Areas Ordinance was approved by the county council on March 5. The amendments under consideration deal with several of the most contentious issues for protecting critical areas, including the definition of “development,” exemptions for utilities, protection of “functions and values” from development in Fish and Wildlife Habitat Critical Areas, and wetland protection rating-system categories and water quality buffers. The critical areas ordinances are set to go into effect March 31.
According to county staff Linda Heller the SJC’s website will be updated soon with diagrams, maps and photos. She said the county is working with a graphic artist to help “show” people rather than tell them about the guidelines for the CAO.There will be a CAO Workshop, March 20 at the Senior Center from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Road work
There are several road projects happening on Orcas this spring and summer. Two locations of interest are Prune Aly and Enchanted Forest Road in Eastsound. Here is a rundown of what will be occurring.
Prune Aly
San Juan County had planned for a full reconstruction of Prune Aly and applied for a grant to go forward, but was unsuccessful.
“So now we are working on simple projects to try to get there,” said Rachel Dietzman, a San Juan County engineer.
These projects will focus mainly on intersection improvements. Dietzman said Public Works is in the process of looking at improving the intersection between Fern Street and Prune Aly sometime this spring or summer. The goal is to put in a curb, gutter, sidewalk and a safe crossing zone for pedestrians. Public Works would also like to do some work on Prune Aly closer to Main Street.
“We’ve had some flooding problems and there have been some problems with catch basins so we want to put in a curb, gutter and sidewalk to control that,” Dietzman said, referring to the Oct. 1 storm when more than two inches of rain were recorded at two sites in Eastsound.
Chip seal
There will also be a chip seal project on two roads in Eastsound this year. The plan is to work on about 0.3 miles of Enchanted Forest Road and 0.1 miles on Orion Road. The chip sealing will occur from mid-May through the first and second week of June.
Other projects of concern
The Mt. Baker Road job on Orcas is almost complete. The final chip seal and wetland mitigation management will occur this summer.
Cape St. Mary Road on Lopez is also listed as the location of a gravel conversions slated on the list for 2014 to 2019.
Public comments on this road included “Please do not improve Cape St. Mary Road. It might no make people drive faster but it certainly will encourage more drivers and cyclists to use the road and encourage more inadvertent trespassing.”
Another islander said simply, “It’s fine the way it is.”
For more info, call Public Works at 370-0500.
