Towne Road moves forward in commissioner's absence

Website updated, project still on schedule

Updated mapping shows “Alternative 2” with the trail on the NW side of Towne Road, the Anderson/Towne/Sequim-Dungeness Way intersection, and gravel parking near the Creamery.

A week late, DCD Director Emery and Chief Engineer Donisi delivered a Towne Road update to the Clallam County Board of Commissioners. Commissioner Ozias was not in attendance.

Compared to the timeline outlined in mid-January, the project is running about three weeks behind an already aggressive schedule that still plans to reopen the road to through traffic by September 30th.  In Commissioner Ozias' absence, Commissioners Johnson and French appeared motivated to push the project forward.  Administrator Todd Mielke suggested delaying the call for bids by nearly two weeks, but the two Commissioners dismissed that notion.  Here are the highlights from today's update:

• Of the 3,700-foot road surface, a majority will be designed with two 14-foot-wide vehicle lanes and the walking trail will be 8-10 feet wide.  A guardrail will be on the field side, with a walking path on the riverside.  

• There is a 350-foot section of the levee that is narrower than the rest and the trail will be 6 to 8 feet wide in that section. The southbound vehicle lane will be narrowed from 14 feet to 10 feet in that stretch.  The speed limit will be 25 mph for the entire length.

• The field side of the road will have a guardrail.  To maximize space, there will be a curb (not a guardrail) between the southbound lane and the trail.  The material of the dividing curb is unknown at this time.

• Near the Creamery, the west side of the road will be wide enough to accommodate parking.

• The levee will be slightly graded to drain toward the field side.  The material removed during the grading process will be relocated to the new parking strip, and also to the Anderson Road/Towne Road intersection. There will be two stop signs on the north and south sides of the intersection, traffic traveling east and west will not have stop signs.

• County crews will chip seal the surface, but the following items will be contracted: curb construction, additional excavation, parking strip construction near the Creamery, guardrails, and stormwater treatment features.

• The Commissioners have agreed to provide the next Towne Road update at the Monday, March 4th work session.  There will be a final review of the design at the Monday, March 25th work session and the project should go out to bid the following day.  Chip sealing the surface is expected to happen in July or August.

• The budget for the remainder of the project is unknown. An engineer’s bid estimate will be produced once the final design parameters are established. From that point, the county will know more precisely what the final cost of construction, engineering, and project closure will be.  The revenue side of the budget will include $800k from the County Road Fund, $400k from the REET Fund, and $1.65M (currently) available in the RCO Grant. 

The website has been updated with a map, cross-section, and additional information.