Clallam County commissioners last week unanimously voted to revise the speed limits of four county roads based on citizen requests and county engineer recommendations.
Over the past several years, citizens have requested speed limit changes to Towne Road, Gupster Road, Gilbert Road, Lotzgesell Road, 3 Crabs Road and Dry Creek Road.
During the commissioner’s regular session on Oct. 8, they approved speed reductions to Towne Road, Gupster Road and Gilbert Road.
Commissioners also approved a speed increase to a portion of Dry Creek Road.
County speed limits can be changed through requests from the county engineer, from the sheriff’s department or from a citizen.
Based on the citizen requests, county engineer Joe Donisi completed an investigative report looking at each road’s traffic volume, average speeds, accidents across the past 10 years and more.
Based on that report, Donisi then recommended whether the speed limit should change.
One of the requests asked that Towne Road, which is now open to traffic, be reduced from 35 mph to 25 mph between Woodcock Road and East Anderson Road, due to road width and sight distance issues.
Over the past 10 years, two non-injury accidents and one injury accident have occurred along that stretch, Donisi said. About 400 vehicles travel through the area each day.
Based on data, Donisi recommended the speed limit be reduced to 30 mph from Woodcock Road to mile post 1.97, and to 25 mph from mile post 1.97 to East Anderson Road.
Towne Road reopens
Crews completed the last of the asphalting and surface work on the northern end of Towne Road on Oct. 8, according to Bruce Emery, the director of the county’s Department of Community Development. The final road work substantially completes the project that originated in 2022.
There remains some minor work that will continue through the end of the month and could continue into early November, Emery noted, including removal of temporary erosion and sediment control measures, completion of striping, hydro-seeding of exposed slopes and other disturbed areas, removal of barriers and construction materials and more.
“As a new chip-seal surface, the road will likely be chip-sealed and striped again in 2025,” Emery said in a press release. “Ongoing monitoring of water quality and river morphology within the reconnected floodplain will continue into the future. We appreciate the public’s patience during this project and look forward to the many benefits that are anticipated with its completion.”
During a public hearing last week, area resident Diana Childs presented the commissioners with a petition from neighborhood residents asking that the entire section of Towne Road be reduced to 25 mph.
They also requested that physical speed structures, such as speed bumps, be installed on the road to reinforce the lower speed limit.
Sheriff Brian King spoke in favor of reducing the whole speed to 25 mph.
“I don’t feel comfortable driving 30 [mph] on that road,” he said. “If I lived on Towne Road, especially with the driveways once you come over that crest, I would be advocating for a 25 mph speed limit as well.”
Commissioners unanimously voted to reduce the speed to 25 mph along the whole length of the road. They noted that the speed limit could be reassessed after planned road improvements are completed.
More speed changes
A citizen requested that Gupster Road and Gilbert Road be reduced from 35 mph to 25 mph due to road width and pedestrian presence.
Donisi said there have been four non-injury accidents between the two roads over the past 10 years. Gupster Road gets an average of 442 vehicles daily, while Gilbert gets an average of 530 vehicles.
Both these roads are located in the Carlsborg urban growth area. Due to the roads locations and narrowness, Donisi recommended the county grant the citizen request.
Additionally, Donisi recommended that the county establish a maximum speed limit within the Carlsborg urban growth area of 25 mph, excluding Carlsborg, Hooker, Atterberry, Mill and Taylor Cutoff Roads.
The commissioners approved the recommendation.
Dry Creek Road’s speed limit will increase from 25 mph to 35 mph where it was rebuilt in response to a citizen request, Donisi said.
A citizen also requested that Lotzgesell Road (between Kitchen-Dick Road and Holgerson Road) be reduced from 45 mph to 35 mph based on sight distance issues.
Data indicates that the average daily traffic is 938 vehicles. There have been three non-injury accidents and one injury accident on that stretch in the last 10 years, Donisi said.
The commissioners approved Donisi’s recommendation that the speed limit remain at 35 mph, to be re-evaluated over the next year as the Voice of America Road project continues.
Another citizen request asked that 3 Crabs Road east of Sequim Dungeness Way be reduced from 35 mph to 25 mph due to pedestrian presence.
Donisi said about 400 cars travel on this dead-end road every day, and it is a fairly open road. There have been three non-injury accidents along this section in the last 10 years.
Donisi recommended that the road remain at 35 mph; the commissioners approved the recommendation.
Sequim Gazette editor Michael Dashiell contributed to this story.
