PORT ANGELES — A long-range plan has been set in motion to introduce bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly features to two-lane Race Street.
Race Street is traveled by more than 3 million vehicles a year and is the primary vehicular and bicycle byway to Olympic National Park’s Hurricane Ridge and Heart o’ the Hills campground.
Nathan West, city community and economic development director, said Thursday the project covers a 2-mile stretch of Race between East First Street and the Y-shaped portion of roadway where Race branches off to Hurricane Ridge Road and the park visitor center.
Improvements on Race will include bike lanes; an 8-foot-wide landscaped median between Second and Ninth streets, including at Civic Field and the Dream Playground; and improved landscaping between sidewalks and curbs.
Race’s 17-foot traffic lanes for vehicular traffic would be reduced to 11 and 12 feet to accommodate the changes.
Bike lanes will be on both sides of Race from East First to Ninth streets and only on the west side of Race — going uphill, not downhill — from Ninth Street to Hurricane Ridge Road.
“The concept was, if you are going downhill, a bicycle ought to be able to keep up with traffic,” West said.
City Council members Oct. 20 accepted without comment — they gave approval as part of their consent agenda — a $408,540 Federal Lands Access Program Grant to design the changes.
The grant was awarded with a $63,761 city match, upping the design costs to $472,301.
West said design and permitting will occur in 2016 and 2017, with construction planned for 2018.
A cost-estimate for construction has not been set, but West was confident more federal money would come the city’s way to complete the project.
“There is a good history of [the Federal Lands Access Program] following through with design grants that they have provided . . . and awarding money from the program for construction of the projects,” West said.
The program, administered by the Federal Highway Administration, focuses on areas where facilities such as parks are located.
“The access program supplements state and local resources for public roads, transit systems and other transportation facilities, with an emphasis on high-use recreation sites and economic generators,” according to the program’s website, http://tinyurl.com/PDN-flap.
West said a secondary goal of the project is to better connect the park with the Olympic Discovery Trail, which features a main exit point at Francis Street, one block west of Race.
Between 1 million and 4 million vehicles travel Race annually, with an average daily count at the East First-Race intersection of 11,420 cars and trucks and an average daily count of 2,932 at Race and Hurricane Ridge Road.
Olympic National Park had 3.2 million visitors in 2014.
“Race Street is one of our most utilized streets or north-south corridors in the city limits and does see a very high level of traffic,” West said.
“Much of that is triggered by the consistent visitation we see to Olympic National Park.
“It is a project we hope the entire community is excited about and certainly is one the city is very excited about pursuing.”
Barb Maynes, Olympic National Park spokeswoman, said Thursday that the timing of the Race Street improvements coincides with the remodeling of the park visitor center off Race that is slated for construction in 2018.
“We are thrilled to partner with the city to be able to improve access to the park,” she added.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.