Our highways into and out of Port Angeles and the West End are critical to the safety and economy of Clallam County.
Our county road crews doing the routine maintenance for these highways do a superb job.
Keeping the roads plowed of snow and deiced, removing the many fallen trees and getting smaller slides off the road are handled quickly and every single day.
Bravo to them.
I am concerned, though, that the larger maintenance issues and planning for highway access done by the state Department of Transportation managers is too slow.
Can you imagine the impact on the West End if the Elwha River bridge had failed while state Highway 112 was closed for slides?
The impact on everyday life, health care and the economy to the West End could have been catastrophic.
We should all be asking for more immediate temporary fixes to keep highways 101, 112 and 113 open.
Safety is important for the construction crews, but so is access to the public.
On the east side of the county, the DOT is considering several roundabouts on 101 to allow side roads better access.
Those will significantly slow travel east of Port Angeles, especially when summer tourist traffic is high.
Can you imagine the large trucks or RVs navigating these? We will all be slowed.
Roundabouts on our version of I-5 are not good solutions.
Please let your legislators and other government officials know that our Clallam County highways need to be kept open and traffic flowing well.
Grant Munro
Port Angeles