Public hearings: 3 Crabs Road realignment and marijuana ordinance
When: 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, Sept. 8
Where: Clallam County Courthouse, Room 160, 223 E. Fourth St.
by ALANA LINDEROTH
Sequim Gazette
Construction to realign the road at the Sequim-Dungeness Way and 3 Crabs Road intersection isn’t expected to begin until next year, but a key step depends on approval from the Clallam County commissioners following a public hearing set for Sept. 8.
To move forward with a project that began more than two years ago to restore the nearshore habitat and estuary surrounding the former site of The 3 Crabs restaurant, officials with the North Olympic Salmon Coalition need portions of both Sequim-Dungeness Way and 3 Crabs Road conditionally vacated and removed.
“Doing this step now ensures that we can achieve this milestone,” Rebecca Benjamin, NOSC executive director, said.
Conditionally vacating the roads is something Benjamin considers “critical” to the project’s success.
The public hearing to conditionally vacate 1,475 feet of Sequim-Dungeness Way and 132 feet of 3 Crabs Road is coming after NOSC officials’ request for a Shoreline Conditional Use Permit, Substantial Development Permit and Critical Area Variance was approved by the Clallam County Hearing Examiner William Payne on July 23.
Despite the approved permits, the public hearing before the county commissioners is part of the process to conditionally vacate portions of county rights-of-way. It also provides the commissioners a chance to consider public comments, evaluate the request and set the terms for the new road.
If approved, it will allow grant funds to be spent with “confidence in constructing these new portions of road,” according to the executive summary submitted to the board of Clallam County commissioners.
The construction phase, estimated to cost $2.98 million, is the next step of the project that received its first grant funding in 2011.
“Until the newly constructed road is approved and ready, the public will have use of the existing road,” Benjamin said.
The new roadway will be built to modern safety standards including signing, striping, wider shoulders and installation of guardrail sat key locations, according to NOSC officials.
Instead of 3 Crabs Road taking a sharp turn near the former site of the restaurant, it will end as a parking lot area in the form of a cul-de-sac and include three spaces and one handicapped space. More parking will be available with a 8-foot paved shoulder extending 400 feet from cul-de-sac.
Sequim-Dungeness Way still will join 3 Crabs Road, only east of the existing intersection via 1,385 feet of new road planned for construction between Sequim-Dungeness Way and the new intersection with 3 Crabs Road.
Some “concerns” have been expressed about the potential of increased traffic on 3 Crabs Road following the road realignment, but because the new intersection is sited farther east of the existing one, residents at the west end of the road actually should experience less traffic, Benjamin explained.
“Only traffic from residents west of the intersection and visitors of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife land will pass by,” she said.
Additionally, Benjamin added, road use east of the intersection will remain unchanged.
In 2012, WDFW purchased The 3 Crabs restaurant property as a Wildlife Area, removed the closed restaurant and temporarily opened the old parking lot for public use, according to NOCS officials. Following the restoration work, views north toward Dungeness Bay from the new parking area will be similar to today’s, but across a dune and beach instead of a road end.
The removal of 32,169 cubic yards of fill, obsolete infrastructure and a creosote bridge over Meadowbrook Creek are among the project plans. As part of the road realignment, a new 61-foot arch concrete bridge, built to meet WDFW standards, will be constructed to maintain access across the creek.
Project officials anticipate their efforts will help enhance the ecological function of more than 40 acres coastal wetlands, restore historical landforms and improve public access to the established WDFW area along Dungeness Bay and Meadowbrook Creek.
The nearshore and estuarine restoration at this site requires collaboration among NOSC, Clallam County, Clallam Conservation District, WDFW, Dungeness Farm Inc., Dungeness Habitat LLC and the North Olympic Land Trust.
For updates and more information on the restoration project at the site of the former site of The 3 Crabs restaurant, visit 3crabsrestoration.blogspot.com.
Reach Alana Linderoth at alinderoth@sequimgazette.com.
