Notice: Undefined index: HTTP_REFERER in /home/stparch/public_html/headmid_temp_main.php on line 4394
Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
January 13, 2022     Shelton Mason County Journal
PAGE 2     (2 of 40 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
 
PAGE 2     (2 of 40 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
January 13, 2022
 
Newspaper Archive of Shelton Mason County Journal produced by SmallTownPapers, Inc.
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information
Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader




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. w 360~GO~BRUSH v SheltonDentalCenter.com 1829 Jefferson St. Shelton continued from page A—1 Come see why . everyone is smiling! 2/« Mass ml 1. {M} :0 flights Dumplienfidwaxds Dr. Du!!th “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.” , _. . lufloflfli 1111 Also Servmg: Olympia - Lacey ' Tumwciier Tenino Yelm Tacoma Moniesano Aberdeen - McKennu - Gig Harbor Cenlrdlia Chehulis ‘ Longview Vancouver - Roy M, was“.