Chelan residents raise questions over cost, safety and access in transportation plan

CHELAN — As Chelan officials got their first broad look at a transportation plan extending nearly a quarter-century into the future, residents brought the conversation back to problems they see on the ground today.

Four residents who addressed the City Council and Planning Commission Sept. 8 raised questions about who will pay for future transportation improvements, whether all parts of the community have been represented in planning, how growth will affect existing roads and whether proposed bicycle and pedestrian standards adequately address safety.

The comments followed a presentation by Daniel Hendricks of Transpo Group on the transportation element of Chelan’s Horizon 2050 Comprehensive Plan update.

Jim Edinger questioned how public input collected so far had been evaluated and how future development would factor into the city’s traffic projections.

“My question is how many of the 350 surveys were positive or negative?” Edinger said.

He also asked how roughly 700 housing units planned near the hospital would affect traffic through 2050 and whether bicyclists had been surveyed about their comfort using the city’s existing bicycle facilities.

The latter question followed discussion of proposed new standards measuring “level of traffic stress” for bicyclists and pedestrians. The city currently measures transportation performance primarily through vehicle congestion but is required under the Growth Management Act update to establish multimodal standards as well.

Stellan Giffin of Manson approached the transportation discussion through the larger questions of growth and affordability.

Giffin opened by reading from a 1902 account predicting that Lake Chelan, then “so little known to the world at large,” would become one of the country’s most famous resorts.

“That was a long time ago,” Giffin said. “And look what it’s become. So, you know, maybe some looks to the past will be helpful for the future.”

He questioned whether longtime residents should bear the cost of infrastructure built in response to growth and increased recreational use.

“Why should people that have lived here their entire lives pay for people that have moved here and haven’t been paying into the system, the infrastructure, pay for their recreation?” Giffin said.

He also pointed to the difficulty of planning transportation separately across jurisdictional boundaries when traffic does not stop at them.

“And since I’m from Manson, I don’t have any say anyway,” Giffin said. “So like you were saying, you know, if a development goes in Manson, it’s going to affect you here.”

Marcia Garton focused first on congestion residents already encounter near Chelan High School and the Dan Gordon Bridge, suggesting the old bridge could be converted to two-way traffic to provide another route through the area.

“The school’s traffic is terrible,” Garton said. “It’s stopped all the time and all the way up to and into the Dan Gordon Bridge.”

Garton also challenged the proposed use of “comfort” in evaluating bicycle facilities, arguing that the emphasis should instead be on safety for everyone using the roadway, including motorists.

“Actually, safety is a more important word in my view,” Garton said. “If these bicycle riders don’t have a level of safety riding that they don’t create accidents for everybody else on the road, they shouldn’t be out there.”

“They need to learn how to ride a bicycle,” she added.

Vicki Martz of Lakeside challenged the city’s public-engagement process itself, saying she did not see Lakeside represented among stakeholders listed during the presentation.

“There is nothing that would have been considered a stakeholder for the entire area of Lakeside,” Martz said. “It’s been basically treated like a naughty stepchild and kicked to the side.”

Martz also objected to the possibility of leaving a roughly three-block gap in multimodal improvements through Lakeside while the Washington State Department of Transportation develops improvements farther west along Highway 97A.

She said the people who would use the connection include Lakeside residents, visitors and children.

“They are human beings that deserve to have the same level of pathway as the people that are in Chelan using the nice pathway that ends at Water Street,” Martz said.

The Sept. 8 presentation was not the final opportunity for residents to weigh in. Transpo Group plans another public open house as it completes the transportation project list, financial analysis and full transportation element.

Mayor Erin McCardle acknowledged near the end of the meeting that the technical nature of comprehensive planning can make participation difficult and said the city needs settings where residents have enough time to ask questions and receive answers.

The transportation element will ultimately become part of Chelan’s updated comprehensive plan, which must be adopted by the end of the year.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media