During a public hearing after their regular May 31 meeting, Clallam County commissioners voted to approve two 2022 surface transportation block grant funding (STBG) applications.

One application — for $400,000 out of a total project cost of $969,773 — will fund construction of about 3,700 feet of Olympic Discovery Trail (ODT) in Sequim from Michigan School Road to Old Blyn Highway.

The segment of the ODT is part of an overall 130-mile, non-motorized, multi-use trail system that spans from Port Townsend to the Pacific Ocean.

According to information from the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, which applied for the STBG, portions of the trail that have not been developed require cyclists to ride on the narrow shoulder of U.S. Highway 101.

The improved trail will offer a 10-foot-wide paved surface to provide for two-way traffic from both bicycles and pedestrians and a 4-foot-wide gravel path for horse riders.

Said Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe Chair Ron Allen, who attended the public hearing virtually: “We are dedicating some more of our property for this trail, and we’re very excited about it.

“It’s a big deal, and we will continue to do our part here in Clallam County.”

The other STBG — applied for by the city of Sequim for $776,311 out of a total project cost of $897,469 — will fund a North Sequim Avenue arterial overlay project from Washington Street to Deytona Street.

According to information from the city of Sequim, the overlay on heavily traveled North Sequim Avenue, the primary north-south arterial through Sequim, will help facilitate local connections to public facilities, commercial businesses and residential areas, and serve as part of the route for through traffic between U.S. Highway 101, Old Olympic Highway and the greater Clallam County region as it becomes Sequim-Dungeness Way.