OLYMPIA – Funding to create boulevard-style safety improvements on the Morse Creek Hill east of Port Angeles is in the state House’s draft transportation budget.
24th district Representative Mike Chapman says $2.5 million dollars is marked for the upcoming two-year spending period and another $2.5 is in the following biennium.
But Chapman say he thinks the project can still be accomplished sooner rather than later. He says the state Department of Transportation has leeway to move money around to pay for the project if it is approved.
Chapman says the project is rated the top transportation safety project for the 24th District legislative district.
The budget will be voted on by the full house on Friday.
The project would redesign Highway 101 through the Morse Creek curves into a raised median, boulevard style.
That part of the highway has seen a number of accidents, many fatal. The latest occurred last summer when 19-year-old Brooke Bedinger lost control of her motorcycle and was hit by an oncoming pickup truck. Her friends and family have lobbied for concrete barriers to be installed at Morse Creek, but highway designers have said that building a raised, landscaped median would be the safest option.