SEQUIM — Motorists who pass the new Wal-Mart “supercenter” being built on the city’s west side will be going in circles to get out of town.
Work crews are installing a “roundabout,” or traffic circle, in the center of the road at the southbound bend from Washington Street to River Road — opposite the new Wal-Mart’s driveway.
The question on motoring minds as a 27½-foot traffic circle is built in the middle of what was once U.S. Highway 101: How much might it snarl traffic flow, especially in light of two major retail centers nearby?
Emergency vehicles responding to medical calls and fires won’t be directly impacted, but the issue of traffic volumes and traffic flow are an unknown, said Steve Vogel, fire chief of Clallam County Fire District No. 3.
“The roundabout is wide enough; we can get around it,” Vogel said.
“I guess my question is, how is access onto (U.S. Highway 101) going to be?”
Nearby traffic signal
A traffic signal will be placed at the intersection of Washington Street and Priest Road, fewer than 500 feet east of the roundabout.
That makes the prospect of placing another light at the Wal-Mart entrance a bad idea, Public Works Director Jim Bay said.
