Many things -- mostly good -- have happened since my last DBET blog post, dated October 24, 2015.
On October 26, and November 2, 9, and 16, dozens of Jefferson County citizens urged the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners to include a DBET feasibility/route study on its 2016-2021 Transportation Improvement Plan.
On October 26, and November 2, 9, and 16, dozens of Jefferson County citizens urged the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners to include a DBET feasibility/route study on its 2016-2021 Transportation Improvement Plan.
On
November 13th, former U.S. Congressman Norm Dicks convened a meeting at Congressman Kilmer’s office to discuss development of the ODT-Eaglemount trail. Participants at the meeting included State
Representative Steve Tharinger (D-Sequim); Joe Dacca (Rep. Kilmer’s District
Director); Judith Morris (Rep. Kilmer’s Clallam/Jefferson
Field Representative); Charlotte Claybrooke (WSDOT Active Transportation
Programs Manager); John Wynands (WSDOT Asst. Region Administrator for Project
Development); Neal Campbell (WSDOT Local Programs
Engineer); Matthew Randazzo (DNR Senior Advisor); Jed Herman (DNR Conservation, Recreation & Transactions Division); and me.
On November 16th, Norm Dicks (and, I think, Steve Tharinger) called one or more of the Commissioners and urged them to include the ODT-Eaglemount feasibility study on the County’s TIP. I believe they made clear to the Commissioners that they strongly supported the project and would work hard to come up with the necessary funding for it.
On November 16th,
the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners voted
unanimously to authorize a feasibility study to establish the route for the ODT
Eaglemount Trail, bypassing SR-20 from Four Corners Road to US 101 at the head
of Discovery Bay. The County will select a consultant to do the study, at an
estimated cost of $75,000. The BOCC
stipulated that funding for the study, plus $10,000 for County
costs, (for a total of $85,000) is to come from non-County sources, and that
placement on the TIP will be reassessed in 2017 if full funding for the study
has not been secured. Here's a copy of the consent agenda request to the BOCC, which was prepared by JeffCo Public Works based on the Commissioners' decision at the November 16th meeting:
I understand that since November 16th, former Congressman Dicks and Representative Tharinger have been working to secure funding for the feasibility study. Hopefully, that will occur within the next two months.
On November 22nd I dove over my
handlebars onto the pavement in a UW parking lot fractured my collarbone and
three ribs and tore some cartilage. That made it very difficult to move my right arm and hand, so I couldn’t
comfortably type for several weeks.
That’s my excuse for this delayed blog post.
Anticipating that
funding for the feasibility study will be secured in the near future, and working
with Jeff Selby, I prepared this map identifying all of the possible routes for the
trail that I thought might be feasible:
(Obviously, there are many possible
routes in addition to the four named in the map legend.) I plan to provide this map to the selected feasibility-study consultant. The job of the consultant will be to study
the alternatives and identify a preferred feasible route.
On
December 11th, Jeff Selby and I met with Monte Reinders and Zoe Ann
Lamp to discuss OTD-Eaglemount study project. At the meeting, Jeff
and I agreed to draft a “scope of work” for a trail consultant which would
describe, among other things, route identification for the proposed trail;
challenges, such as steep slopes; property owner approvals (Reinders said it was most important to reach out to the property
owners to determine whether they will permit the trail on their
properties. If we don’t have their approvals it will be almost
impossible to proceed); environmental review and problems; costs; phasing; funding
sources; and permitting requirements. The County will review our draft scope of work, revise it as necessary and provide it to candidate consultants.
Again
working with Jeff Selby, I drafted a “scope
of work” for the consultant’s design and route study for the Eaglemount section
of the Olympic Discovery Trail. Here’s my draft:
