Island County Commissioner Phil Bakke has gotten the state’s attention with his recent letter that blasted the state Department of Transportation over traffic safety in Clinton. Paula Hammond, the state’s transportation secretary, has agreed to take a look at the issues and visit Clinton for herself in a few weeks.
Bakke said Hammond will attend an Economic Development Council luncheon on May 21 at the Coupeville Rec Hall.
“After that, we’ve made an arrangement with her office to do a little tour of South Whidbey state roads — including a walking tour of Clinton,” Bakke said.
Hammond’s upcoming visit to Whidbey Island follows a letter Bakke sent her earlier this month detailing his concerns about a Department of Transportation draft report on Highway 525 in Clinton. Bakke did not like that the report begged off responsibility to Island County as opposed to the state fixing the state highway issues on its own.
“The ferry is the third- or second-most busy route in the ferry system, and if you look at the other routes, there have been some pretty major capital investments done for things like traffic calming and beautification,” Bakke said.
“Traffic calming and beautification can easily be one and the same. How is it that the state can fund so many projects on the speedway and Kingston and all the other ferry places?”
Bakke is not looking for a costly solution to fix the problems, he said. Some have suggest putting a landscaped median down the center of the busy thoroughfare that cuts through the heart of Clinton in the hopes that it will make the stretch of highway safer for pedestrians as drivers speed through town.
“Looking at putting in a median in the center doesn’t always have to be a massive expense when you’re doing a paving project,” Bakke said. “Putting in power for road lighting on the crosswalk doesn’t have to be something that is a huge expense, particularly if you do it in conjunction with the paving project.”
Bakke said the community is getting angry about improvements to Highway 525 after many years of no results.
“We’ve been asking for these things for 20-plus years,” he said. “We kept getting put off and now DOT (Department of Transportation) is doing this big paving project on the heels of a draft report that says there are no problems.”
“It is frustrating for those folks,” Bakke added. “I don’t blame them.”
Bakke said some suggestions for calming traffic, such as roadside landscaping or moving buildings closer to the roadway, won’t work.
“When you have five lanes of asphalt with no breaks, it’s really tough — it’s a freeway,” he said. “What are we supposed to do with the people who are set back? Tell them to tear down their buildings and build new ones? It doesn’t work that way.”
Bakke plans to show Hammond firsthand the issues of crossing the highway on foot amid speeding cars. And the state has been receptive to the idea.
“Paula has clearly shown that she is somebody who gets out and looks at the issues for herself,” said Lloyd Brown, spokesman for the Department of Transportation. “She’s worked real closely with the leaders and the ferry-served communities on a range of issues, primarily Port Townsend — Keystone and Clinton.”
