By Pepper Fisher
SEQUIM – The fate of the section of Towne Road that sits atop the new levee west of Sequim is still uncertain, but this much we know: a lot of people in that area are very unhappy that county officials are even discussing what to do with it.
The original design of the new levee included a two lane road reconnecting to Anderson Road. When county officials asked residents in September to participate in a survey that asked which of four alternatives they would like to see done with the top of the levee, many asked why it wasn’t being paved as was originally planned.
The results of the survey led Bruce Emery, the Director of Community Development, to recommend to that the Commissioners pursue the design features described in Alternative 2, which is to have both a paved road and a recreational trail for hikers.
Commissioner Mark Ozias told KONP that all three Commissioners are in favor of the road/trail option and they adopted a budget that allocates well over $1 million in funding for that purpose. But, he said, that still leaves the County about a million dollars short on the project.
“We’ve got Public Works and the engineering consultants and Community Development sort of working on how to put a bid package together that meets the available budget that we have. So I’m looking forward to seeing how that comes together. That will either be, you know, scaled-down and expense in some way, or staged over the course of time. And I’m just not sure exactly how that’s going to look yet, but I’m anxious to see.”
So, the road and trail project might be scaled back in some way to stay on budget, or it might be completed in steps over time. In the meantime, the levee has become a popular trail, and a locked security gate has been installed to keep people from driving across it. How’s that been working out? Here’s Bruce Emery:
“The only purpose for the locked gate has been to prevent current use of the current levee, because it’s unsafe. There’s no guardrails, or anything. So we don’t want people using it right now. We are getting reoccurring vandalism of the lock on it, or we even had one of the gates removed. Someone actually dug out the the base material around it and the left it laying on the ground. So, it’s been just a lightning rod for vandalism and, you know, you can read into that what you want in terms of what’s occurring, but the final product should be a road that’s open for public use, 24/7.”
Commissioner Ozias said in an email, “If we can find a more cost-effective way to build the road then we will not need to worry about gate issues. If we do end up having to do a gate, then I expect we would work with first responders to ensure a design that meets their needs (in terms of emergency-related access).”