Tribe: Keep Towne Road closed
Public road better as "outdoor classroom"
Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s official stance is that Towne Road should remain closed for an additional three years before a decision is even considered — that could push this rural route’s opening to 2029 or beyond. The Tribe’s Transportation Program Manager, Wendy Clark-Getzin, communicated the Tribe’s official stance in an October 10th letter to the County Commissioners:
“The new levee is functioning as an outdoor classroom for drawing the public close to the river and watching restoration in progress. It’s the Tribe’s recommendation to leave the levee incomplete for three years as a better plan transpires. A delay in future decisions to restore the local road network would give time to examine the usage as an unofficial trail and watch the functionality of the levee through storm events without concern for the proposed 2024 road investment. After the nearby neighborhood’s traffic generation has been examined for level of service, better decisions can be made with three or more years of transportation data.”
The Tribe’s requested timeline is consistent with the Commissioner’s announcement that “construction of any of the road surface alternatives will likely take two to three years.”
Towne Road wasn’t supposed to be closed for even one day. In the summer of 2022 project partner Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe breached the old 1964 dike ahead of schedule thus opening the “old” Towne Road to the risk of flooding — the County declared an emergency and the road was closed. County leaders set forth a plan that would reopen Towne Road by September 2023, but Commissioner Ozias halted the road’s completion citing “an upswell of support” (this upswell was later revealed to be less than 100 signatures). In June, Commissioners decided to reallocate the last of Towne Road’s surfacing funds to the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe to construct additional engineered logjams.
The commissioners are catering to special interests (the Tribe, nature-lovers) over the general public. That's wrong and should not be tolerated. Widespread public disclosure of this favoritism may embarrass the commissioners and coerce them into doing what's right. Our taxes pay for these roads and if emergency vehicles are delayed due to a circuitous route, the potentially dire ramifications will be on the commissioners hands and could end their political careers if publicized. Remind them of that.
Sigh. I ran into Ozias last Saturday and beat his ear for a few minutes, but it was at the Boys & Girls Club fundraiser, so I was brief and polite. I feel like we’re barking at the moon, given all the resistance.