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Page A-2 — Shelton—Mason County Journal -'Thursday, Jan. 13,
City wants to make dangerousroadssafer
By Gordon Weeks
gordon@masoncounty. com
The Shelton City Council
will pursue federal money to
improve the safety on some
of its most dangerous roads,
which include the East Wal—
lace Kneeland Boulevard
business corridor and the
North 13th Street/Shelton
Springs Road intersection.
The council Jan. 4 gave
preliminary approval to a
Road Safety Plan. The coun-
cil can vote to give the plan
final approval at its Tuesday
meeting.
The city report states that
if' the, council had declined to
adopt the plan, the city would
have missed out on the oppor~
tunity to apply for a share of
$35 million of federal High—i
way Safety Improvement Pro- '
gram money in that the
state will distribute. March 4
.is the deadlineto apply, and
the council will decide which
projects to request money.
If the city receives some
of the federal money, it will
be required to put up 10%in
matching money in its
budget. .
The plan focuses on fatal
and serious injury crashes.
“The local Road Safety
Plan is a crash data-driven
plan that tells us around town
where people are getting hurt
and Where we have fender
benders,” City Engineer Ken
Gill told the Council at the
Jan. meeting.
The city paid SCJ Alliance
of Lacey to prepare
the safety plan based on crash
The City of Shelton’s Road Safety Plan, which focuses on sites where
fatal and serious
accidents have happened, includes a recommendation to create a midblock
pedestrian
crossing on East Wallace Kneeland Boulevard next to Oakland Bay Junior High
School.
Journal photo by Gordon Weeks
data provided by the city for
a five-year period from
to Those numbers came
from the state Department of
Transportation, which com—
piled all the crash reports in-
the city reported by law en-
forcement. Crashes on US
Highway 101 through the city
were not included.
During that five-year
period, 832 crashes were
reported on Shelton streets.
'IVvo of those crashes resulted
in deaths, and caused seri-
ous injuries.
Of those serious
accidents, four occurred on
state Route 3 within the city
limits, three were on Olympic
Highway North, and nine oc—
curred on other streets.
The city corridors with the
highest number of accidents
from and were:
I South 1st Street from
Mill Street to West Railroad
Avenue, accidents.
'I Olympic Highway North
from West Alder Street to
East Wallace Kneeland Bou-
levard,
I Olympic Highway South,
from the city limits to Mill
Street, 51.
I East Wallace-‘Kneeland'
Boulevard, I from Olympic
Highway North to Shelton
Springs Road, 41. '
I West Railroad Avenue
from North lst Street to Pa-
cific Court, 41.
The report also noted 38
crashes from 2016_to
that involved pedestrians and
bicyclists, which it noted is an
unusually high nuinber.
At a Sept. study session
on the plan, council mem—
bers, ‘idéntified ,other areas
where, they have seen “near
misses” and asked staff to
focus on those areas as well.
That prompted the‘ additional
recommendation for a mid-
block pedestrian crossing is-.
' .land on East Wallace Knee-
land Boulevard next to Oak—
land Bay Junior High School.
City staff. also met with
Robert “Herron, the Shelton
School District’s director of faL
cilities and maintenance, and
Cedar High School Principal
Amber Hosford to hear their
traffic concerns. That led to
the additions of proposed
' projects for East Street
— home to Olympic Middle .
School and Mountain View
Elementary School and
North 13th Street and Shelton
Springs Road, where Cedar
High School is on the Olympic
College Shelton campus.
Council member Eric Onis-
ko, who was chosen as the I.
city’s mayor Jan. 4, 'has been
recommending a better cross-
walk for the Oakland Bay stu-
dents for years. He said he is
excited about a possible up-
grade, “where kids are play-
ing (the arcade game) Frogger
with cars.”
Council 'member Kathy
McDowell thanked Gill for his I
work. . .
“The crosswalk flashers are
great, better than waiting for
the light to change,” she said.
Council member Joe
Schmit said he supports
seeking money for safety im-
provements on Olympic High-
way North and South, and
the Oakland Bay crosswalk
on éEast , Wallace Kneela‘nd
Boulevard.
Mayor:-Councilmember calls Onisko ‘compaSSionate;
City Commission. He won a seat'onthe expanded
seven—member council in I
Onisko said he was stunned at his first meeting
to hear the city was $4.7 million in the red. “That
was an eye-opener for us,” he said.
Thehalting of discretionary spending took care
of that deficit, Onisko said. The new mayor said the
hiring of City Manager Jeff Niten is the highlight of
his first four years .on the council.
Schmit joined the council alongside Onisko four
years ago, and was also re-elected in November. Al-
though he was also nominated to be the mayor and
received two votes, Schmit voted for Onisko.
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“I am thankful for his willingness to serve and
excited to see him excel in this role,” Schmit wrote
in an email to the Journal.
“Eric is one of Shelton’s most compassionate ,
council members,” Schmit wrote. “He dedicates a
considerable amount of time to public service. He
isn’t afraid to speak up and defend the interests of
our community. There is a tremendous amount of
heart .in just about everything Eric does. We don’t
agree On everything, (we’re) sometimes at opposite
ends of the spectrum when issues arise. Having
differing views and opinions causes us to stop and
think, to challenge the ways we’ve always done it,
and, break dawn problems, ultimately forging path—
ways forward.”
Council member Deidre Peterson said she knew
Onisko as a business owner, Shelton-Mason County
Chamber of Commerce" member and community
, V , “gimme awwmmwm m y
WI“
supporter before they both joined the council.
“He brings that perspective to the table for each
and every conversation,” Peterson wrote, “He is also
compassionate in his approach and readily avail-
able to those who wish to discuss the happenings in
local government. I have found Eric to be-diligent in
his duties and conscientious to understand the de-
tails of city programs, budget, proposals, etc. I am
eager to work with him, as the newly elected may-
or, together with the entire council to tackle issues
that will improve our communityand the quality of
life for our neighbors.”
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