This would be a good time to renew the pursuit of the construction of the Cross-Connector road.  This road would provide a safer, shorter (time & distance) commute, and reduce advanced life support (ALS) emergency service vehicles access time by at least 5 minutes for all of those in the Driftwood Key/Shorewood area.  It would also take almost all of the traffic off the Hansville/Twin Spits and Cliffside/Hood Canal Drive sections of the roads that have been so controversial.  This truly is a win-win for everybody concerned.  The catch is that it is not an overnight solution and will take a good deal of work on the part of the community.  It is definitely a piece of infrastructure that is long overdue; it can be done, and is worth the effort.

 

A short history of the road development in our area is a good way to start this presentation.  After WWII, people began to seek out this area as a recreational retreat.  Many summer cabins were built and a road net was developed to provide access to the area.  Sometime during this time frame the hairpin turn was completed connecting the North and South portions of what we know today as Hood Canal Drive.  Those of us south of the hairpin still get our mail out of Kingston as a reminder of those earlier days. 

 

These roads were not built to the standards that are required today.  As time went by, they were improved upon but still their horizontal and vertical alignment remained much as it was when they were first built.  That’s pretty much the situation that we find ourselves faced with today when we drive the roads.  They have many sharp curves (horizontal alignment) and lots of hills, dips, and valleys (vertical alignment).  These two features account for most of the accidents occurring on these roads today.  There is no cost effective way to bring these roads up to current-day standards.

 

Traffic has increased considerably over the past 50 years and will continue to increase as the community builds out and the summer homes are converted to full-time residences.  While traffic is not yet bumper-to-bumper, the problem is that most people exceed the post speed limits.  These limits were set in recognition of the fact that the roads are not main arterials and that their alignment problems preclude higher speeds.  In addition a few of those who drive the roads push the limits of safety to the point where there is a reaction from the people who lives along certain stretches of the roads, notably in Hansville and in Cliffside. 

 

This is not a new problem but has existed for years.  In the 1980s, there was a proposal to use an old County right-of-way (ROW) to bypass Hansville.  It was expensive and solved only part of the problem.  The community rejected the proposal and was told by their County Commissioner (John Horsley) at that time to come to him when the community reached a consensus. 

 

That consensus was reached when the original Hansville Community Plan was generated in the early 1990s.  Approximately 40 people volunteered their time over a period of two years to develop this Plan.  A portion of that Plan proposed a road connecting Hood Canal Drive directly to the Hansville Road in a way that would provide a direct access from the Driftwood Key/Shorewood area to Hansville Road.  A committee was formed and the work began.  The committee was able to persuade the County to fund a $60,000 corridor study studying the possible routes and provided information necessary to make the final route decision.  A SEPA study was required, money was set aside, and the work was scheduled for summer of 1997.  The road was put on the County’s 6-Year Plan and everything seemed to be going fine until Commissioner Endresen decided the money was better spent elsewhere.  She subsequently decided we did not need the road at all and it was removed from the road plan entirely.  At no time did she contact anyone from the road committee to inform us of what she was doing. 

 

I have recently contacted the County Road Department and requested that this project be returned to the County’s 6-Year Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP).  I have reason to believe that this will occur.  Of further interest to the community is that the road improvement project scheduled for this summer at Ponderosa in the Shorewood community was part of the original Cross Connector plan and with very little modification will accommodate the Cross Connector in the future.  This transition section was an expensive portion of the original plan and will serve to reduce the cost of the remainder of the road.   

 

For unexplained reasons the Cross Connector road did not show up on the current Futures document.  I am told that Commissioner Endresen told the community that the road was too expensive and that there was no possibility that it would be built; consequently it was not included in the Futures document.  The cost the Commissioner reportedly gave the community was $15 million.  There are two things wrong with this scenario.  First, the Commissioner should not be telling the community what it’s future needs are.  The community should be telling her what those needs are and she should be doing her best to realize them.  Second, the $15 million she quoted the community is about twice what the road would cost.

 

A major opportunity exists currently.  First, we have a new Commissioner, and second, Olympic Property Group has announced that it will either be selling its 1500-acre parcel in 2-acre lots or, if it can obtain permission, increase the density to 1 unit per 5 acres and devote 75% of the area into open space (cluster concept).  Either one of these options will require some sort of road net with some sort of mitigation effort.  I have discussed with them the idea of a cooperative effort between themselves, the community, and the County in constructing this road net such that it benefits not only them but also the community.  They are currently studying the property to determine just how they will develop it and what the road net might look like.  There is much work to be done and when this effort is complete they will be in a position to talk with us about our needs.  I would expect they will look closely at the options and at that point a cooperative option with the County/community will be seriously considered. 

 

An educated guess as to the cost for this road would be in the neighborhood of $8 million.  Money is a very real problem and the County has stated repeatedly that they do not have the money to build this road; however, if Olympia Property Group could be persuaded to donate the right-of-way (ROW) and to focus their mitigation effort on this road it would lower the cost considerably and make it much more likely that the County could be persuaded to participate.  If, in addition, the community was willing to support a Road Improvement District (RID) bond it would bring additional pressure to bear upon the county to come up with, at the very least, matching funds.  The bond would be voted upon the community in much the same manner as we vote on Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and fire services levies.  Just how much the community would pay per $100,000 assessed value will depend upon the total assessed value of all the property in the benefited area and what portion of the road cost the community is willing to bond for. 

 

This is an opportunity the community will not see again, especially after the OPG property is broken up.  Worst scenario, OPG sells in 20-acre blocks ad we have to deal with multiple owners.  This road WILL be built in the future but never again at these bargain prices.  It would behoove all concerned – the community, the County, and OPG – to work cooperatively toward this goal now.  Also, a cooperative effort within the community may be a better way to expend our efforts in solving the problem before us.  This project should have the support of all concerned and will help us to work together. 

 

The community should pay close attention to what is going on currently.  There will substantial development occurring in our area in the next 10 years with or without the road.  This road should have been built years ago and its need will become even more apparent in the near future.

 

This can be the beginning of that effort.  I believe that this road is a candidate for inclusion in one of the committees being formed and I would like to volunteer to be on that committee.  I will work with anyone interested in getting this project up and running again.  I chaired the previous committee, I know most of the players, and have a wealth of information from those previous efforts which I will provide.  I am not getting any younger and I would very much like to pass the baton on to a younger group.