It’s the first step on the road to consensus.
The San Juan County Public Works Department hosted an open house on Jan. 14, inviting Orcas residents to weigh in on the Mount Baker Road and Spruce, Alder and Hemlock streets projects.
“We want to build from the bottom up instead of dictating from the top down,” county engineer John Van Lund said. “We want to reach a consensus with the community. It worked well with the Fisherman Bay Road project on Lopez.”
During the two-hour open house, county planning engineers answered questions from the public, many of whom wrote questions and ideas on large maps set out on tables.
The feedback included such comments as: “How will runoff be managed?” “Water drains from the street into our driveway.” “Please keep as much native vegetation as possible.” “We want a multi-use, pedestrian trail.” “The North Beach and Mt. Baker intersection should have a four-way stop sign and crosswalks. Failing that, a flashing yellow light and crosswalks should be considered.”
About the projects
The Mt. Baker Road improvements aim to boost public safety and road quality from milepost 0.0 to 1.1. The road is a designated truck bypass route around Eastsound, and at 20-feet wide with no shoulders, it is unable to safely accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians. The roadway surface is deteriorating and the road base is failing. There are drainage issues in several spots, and while the posted speed limit is 25 and 35 mph, traffic speed has been recorded as high as 51 mph. There have been a number of car accidents, including one fatality.
The proposed improvements include: widening the road to 30 feet (two 11-foot lanes and four-foot shoulders), rebuilding the failed road base and adding drainage features, designing for a 35 mph speed limit, removing or relocating road hazards such as trees, fences, and culvery ends to at least 10 feet from the edge of the new lanes, and enhancing or replacing wetlands.
During 2010, the county will begin the design process, right-of-way acquistion, environmental permit strategizing, mitigation planning, and permit applications. Design will be finished in 2011 and construction will be complete in 2012.
The entire project will cost $2.75 million. State funds are supplying 90 percent of the money, and the county is paying for 10 percent.
The public has expressed a desire for a pedestrian trail on Mt. Baker Road, and while the county has been denied grant money three times in the past eight years, it hopes to secure funding by the time construction begins on the road in 2012. Another grant application will be submitted this year, and preliminary design will happen in conjunction with the road improvement project.
Alder, Spruce, and Hemlock streets were chosen to receive paving improvements in order to reduce road maintenance costs. Each year the roads must be regraded and/or resurfaced with gravel due to traffic and continuous deterioration caused by stormwater run-off from adjacent parcels. These streets were also identified in the 2004 Eastsound subarea drainage plan for improvements because of drainage inadequacies and isolated flooding problems.
Design plans and improvements will begin this year and chipseal is set for spring 2011, but the schedule is dependent on funding.
“There are two budgets that will impact this project: the road fund and the storm water utility fund,” said Rachel Dietzman, public works senior project manager. “The road fund has some money allocated and the stormwater utility has identified that the project needs to be done in Eastsound. The council has made the appropriation of funds for gravel conversion projects for 2010. Next year, there is additional gravel conversion money planned, but it is unclear what will happen given the economy.”
Dietzman says the county doesn’t have a cost estimate for the project yet.
“We won’t know until we have the design done,” she said.
Submit feedback
To join a citizens advisory committee for the road projects or to submit a comment, call Dan Vekved, Project Manager, at 370-0504 or John Van Lund, County Engineer, at 370-0510.
