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| March 29, 2018 Shelton Mason County Journal |  |
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Thursday, March 29, 2018 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page A-25
continued from page A-23
budget of about $21,000 to the 2007
budget of less than $20,000, even as
inflation and the cost of following more
regulations have increased.
"The county has really been chal-
lenged with the budget," Wolff said.
"The revenue is essentially flat Let's
just face it, it's harder to do things now
with environmental regulations and all
the processes involved in doing a proj-
ect. But, the county has gotten smarter
in the way we've done business."
As a result, Wolff said the time pe-
riod between chip seals and overlays
is getting longer, and less money is
available for brush control and other
services. Still, the county undertook a
number of transportation projects.
One project the county was able to
pursue recently was adding a 450-foot
section of sidewalk along Clifton Road,
connecting the nearby Mason Transit
Authority bus stop to state Route 3.
The county also completed 2.5 miles of
asphalt overlay along Mason Benson
Road, between state Route 3 and Trails
Road, and replaced the undersized Little
Mission culvert on North Shore Road.
One future project the county al-
ready has planned is a new sidewalk
along Old Belfair Highway connect-
ing the HUB to the intersection of
state Route 300 and Clifton Lane,
near QFC. Wolff said designers are
working to fix the sliding and cracks
on Trails Road, while considering al-
ternate routes. Wolff said the panel
is also exploring inexpensive ways to
improve intersection safety, such as
the intersection that leads to Mason
Lake, Mason Benson Road and Trails
End Lake.
Loretta Swanson, a technical servic-
es manager for Mason County public
works, said the engineering and con-
struction manager had bids "ready to
roll" for Matlock Brady Road,
Community members brought for-
ward several new ideas as well, some of
which would fall under the county's ju-
risdiction, and some of which would be
state projects. These included sugges-
tions for connections to the anticipated
Belfair Bypass -- recently renamed the
SR3 Freight Corridor by state Sen. Tim
Shelton, adding shoulders to the nar-
row, winding roads at Trails End.
Johnson said the panel would take
the feedback from the evening's meet-
ing and compile it into a report to the
county by October.
However, some attendees at Mon-
day night's meeting said they felt their
opinions on the future development of
Mason County's roads have not been
taken seriously, both in the longterm
planning of projects such as the bypass
and in more recent endeavors such
as the intersection control just north
of Belfair of Log Yard Road and state
Route 3.
SAFETY TAKES TOP PRIORITY
The regulation of this intersection
was the topic of discussion March 7 at
North Mason Timberland Library. Pat-
rick Holm, SCJ Alliance project man-
ager, presented four main options:
No change -- the intersection is
already regulated by a stop sign for
traffic entering state Route 3.
A traffic signal.
A two-way stop control, adding a
stop sign to east.
A single-lane roundabout.
Scott Sawyer, principal transporta-
tion design manager with SCJ Alliance,
said the Washington state Department
of Transportation (WSDOT) typically
favors roundabouts as the safest op-
tion. The SJC Alliance representatives
engaged in a 90-minute question-and-
answer session with community mem-
bers, touching on concerns about large
logging trucks and semis navigating
the different options and how the land-
scape may change with the coming
freight corridor.
Mason County Commissioner Ran-
dy Neatherlin said based on what he
heard at the evening's meeting regard-
ing safety, he would favor the round-
about.
"The biggest thing that came out of
this, I think we all agreed that safe-
ty is going to be the paramount issue,"
Neatherlin said.
The commissioner also said several
companies have expressed interest in
building near the coming Belfair Park
& Ride.
"There's going to have to be access
onto those roads," he said.
Sawyer said having these meetings
is useful because it is easier to find
common ground on specific issues, such
as safety, and then build a consensus
from there rather than immediately
jumping to potential solutions.
RESIDENTS CRITICAL OF
BYPASS, INTERSECTION PLANS
Jack Johnson, a panel member rep-
resenting freight and trucking con-
cerns, facilitated the community dis-
cussion at Monday's meeting.
Earl Iddings, a landowner near the
Log Yard Road intersection, attended
both meetings and said he believed the
state had already made up its mind to
choose a roundabout without fully con-
sidering the community's interests.
"I feel that I still haven't seen true
and accurate knowledge for an inter-
section through a major arterial with
speed limits in excess of 50 mph, with
heavy, heavy commercial truck traffic,"
he said
Iddings said-he didn't find the model
of traffic use presented at the March 7
meeting representative of the current
and predicted use of state Route 3, and
he was concerned that the majority of
landowners in the area were not con-
tacted sooner given the complexity of
the issue.
"There's a lot to think about here for
the local businesses, the community,
and the life-safety factor, No. 1, but
have we actually been given a true life-
safety factor?" he asked.
He also proposed increasing safety
and visibility at the intersection of
state Route 300 and Sand Hill Road,
leading to Sand Hill Elementary
School, whether by adding pedestrian
trails, moving the road, elevating it to
avoid flooding issues or some combina-
tion.
"I understand a lot of this is a state
highway, but I do believe that the citi-
zens of Mason County and TIP-CAP
have the responsibility to work in con-
junction with the landowners, the tax-
payers and even our little kids that go
up Sand Hill Road," he said.
Other concerns shared at the meet-
ing stemmed from traffic flow in down-
town, especially at and around the
stoplight on Northeast Old Clifton
Road, and farther south by North Ma-
son High School.
Several attendees were also vocal in
their disinterest in building a connec-
tion to the SR3 Freight Corridor. Greg
Waggett said he didn't see the need
for the connection if the aim is to draw
heavy traffic away from downtown Bel-
fair, especially if it were via Romance
North Mason
residents hear
about options for
the intersection
of state Route
3 and Log Yard
Road, just north
of downtown
Belfair.
Herald photo by Dana
Kampa
Road. He said two
sections of the road in particular re-
main in shadows most of the day dur-
ing the winter, making them unexpect-
edly icy for out-of-town motorists.
"There just seems to be a lack of
forethought in a lot of the situations
that are being imposed, and they seem
to be more intent on what we're going
to do with the surrounding land as op-
posed to what is appropriate for the
commtmity," Waggett said.
Several attendees said they appreci-
ated the panel members' work to make
community voices heard.
"We want to get input on road
maintenance, road safety, intersection
safety, connectivity, all of the duties
of Mason County Public Works," said
panel member Jeff Carey, represent-
ing the Belfair/Allyn Urban Growth
Area.
The panel has several upcoming
meetings for its transportation plans,
one in each of the three county commis-
sioners' districts. The next meetings
are scheduled for April 25 in Hood-
sport and in May in Shelton. The group
meets regularly from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
the second Wednesday of every month
in the Mason County Public Works
conference room, 100 W. Public Works
Drive, Shelton.
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