Town Council tackles traffic issues

La Conner officials are accelerating plans to curb speeding traffic here.

The Town Council has bypassed a potentially lengthy cost analysis process and authorized Public Works Director Brian Lease and Town Administrator Scott Thomas to immediately begin crunching numbers on expenses related to use of digital speed signs in high traffic volume areas.

The Council is leaning toward installation of at least two permanent signs, though Sgt. Jeff Willard, head of the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office La Conner Detachment and Undersheriff Chad Clark have advocated for mobile signs mounted on trailers.

Either way, the Council is wanting to fast track action on the matter.

“I think we need to do something,” Councilmember Mary Wohleb said during the panel’s Zoom session June 8, “and I think citizens are getting frustrated with traffic speed on Maple (Avenue).”

The Council and Sheriff’s office have also fielded complaints about traffic speeds on North Third Street, Councilmember Bill Stokes noted.

“My suggestion,” said Stokes, “is that we have two permanent reader boards on Maple and two on North Third.”

Stokes cited the advantages of permanent signs, pointing out that Town employees would not have to move them from site to site, nor store them when not in use.

“I think that if we had a couple reader boards out in prime locations, 24/7, it would be good for the town,” Stokes said.

Willard cautioned that over time a permanent sign can blend into the background and lose effectiveness. They are also easier targets for vandalism.

Radar trailers can be responsive to places all over town and not just to one location,” he said.

Willard said mobile reader boards can “make more people happy” as some residents might object to their neighborhoods not being selected for permanent signs.

Stokes said streets with narrow or no shoulders can limit where mobile signs are stationed.

“A trailer would be good,” he said, “but there might be no place to park a trailer.”

He presented a list of other local traffic-related issues and possible remedies, first addressing the intersection of Morris and Maple, where westbound traffic has a free left turn to accommodate commercial truck travel. A 12-foot roundabout circle could be installed there, Stokes said, but an underlying water line needs upgrades first.

He also encouraged discussion of complaints concerning commercial trucks using Talbott Street after unloading at Pioneer Market.

“I don’t have a dog in the fight,” said Stokes, who resides on Caledonia, “but I’m just following up on complaints by citizens.”

Washington Street is the designated truck route in the area near Pioneer Market. But hedges blocking site lines have grown onto Town property making it more difficult for trucks to turn there.

Stokes recommended that signage be installed directing truck traffic to Washington Street and that the hedges be cut back after discussions with the resident who would be most affected.

Councilmember Jacques Brunisholz, who lives on Talbott Street, termed it a no-win situation.

“When the trucks go down Talbott,” he said, “the people on Talbott complain. When they go down Washington, the people on Washington complain. But we all want our groceries delivered to the store.”

Council also received three letters regarding a local citizen’s patrol trained and administered by the Sheriff’s Office, two in opposition, one in support.

Thomas reported on submittal of a $30,000 Community Development Block Grant planning grant for revitalizing La Conner’s south-end industrial area. If awarded, town officials would collaborate with residents and owners of the vacant Moore-Clark site to craft a strategy for the south-end.

“Because it’s a planning grant,” Stokes was quick to point out, “it doesn’t put pressure on the owners to do anything.”

Thomas learned June 14 that the application had not been submitted. See story to left.

Mayor Ramon Hayes reported he told the La Conner school district the Town will help find grant funding for further youth sports venue development if needed. A softball diamond behind the middle school is available on a year-to-year basis, replacing the Maple Avenue ballfield lost with the property’s sale for a housing subdivision.

Councilmember John Leaver proposed $600 to bring the popular C.C. Adams Band to perform July 4 following the downtown holiday parade. Mayor Ramon Hayes said he would contact The Port of Skagit for a cost-share agreement. The council quickly hopped on that bandwagon.

Swinomish Senator Alana Quintasket invited La Conner to participate in the tribal community’s first-ever Pride Parade 5:30 p.m. June 30. “It seems like a cool way to be united,” Quintasket said, “especially in this tough year (of the COVID-19 pandemic).”