Race Street from Front Street is the main entrance in Port Angeles to the Olympic National Park and mainly Lauridsen Boulevard.
Race Street is the main thoroughfare in, out and through Port Angeles connecting to U.S. Highway 101 west.
It appears that a lot of planning dollars went into this project with the main direction toward bike and walking space — just as if those foot activating travelers magically appeared at Front and Race streets, and their main destination was then only the Olympic National Park.
I would hope that the main direction of thought would be for the welcoming of all vehicular traffic into our local area and assisting them in keeping the traffic moving in an inviting and efficient manner to stay in the area, and with the ease of exiting and returning to and through Port Angeles by way of Race Street and to further their stay in the area for whatever their reasons for using that main thoroughfare for travel.
Assuming that is the mission of the city’s proposed plan exercise, then I honestly believe that a look toward assisting the vehicle traffic be the prime reason for developing a plan for the “Race Street Corridor Design” project — as most all traffic to and through Port Angeles will initially enter by vehicles — not pedestrians, nor bicyclists.
If that assumption is mostly correct, then I would advise the powers that be that all proposed lane reconfiguration be toward keeping the traffic moving so that they can get to their desired local end destination in an efficient and inviting manner — which then makes repeat participants in our local economy.
Paul Lamoureux,
Port Angeles