PORT ANGELES — Clallam County commissioners today will consider approving an agreement with the city of Port Angeles that grants the county 3,200 feet of easement on the old Milwaukee Road railroad grade west of Lower Elwha Road.
The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe will build a new road on the easement. The county will take responsibility for the road after it is completed.
The new road will link the Milwaukee railroad grade, currently Kacee Way, with Stratton Road on the reservation west of Port Angeles. It will become the primary access route for the tribe.
The project, which is funded by grants from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, is already under way.
Clallam County Engineer Ross Tyler said the tribe is building the road to county standards. A local consultant will handle the inspection.
“It will be designed to our specifications,” Tyler said.
Clallam County and the tribe are in the middle of a road swap that has been in the works for about five years.
In April 2009, the county vacated its ownership of Stratton Road, which the tribe transferred to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Stratton Road needed major improvements for sewer line upgrades and Elwha River dam removal projects such as the fish hatchery on the reservation.
“The county didn’t have the resources necessary to improve Stratton Road to degree it needed to be improved,” Tyler said.
The county’s portion of the new road will end at the bottom of the hill near the southern terminus of Stratton Road.
The city of Port Angeles has a 24-inch water main under the existing railroad grade. Should a break occur in the water main and the road is damaged, the city will restore the road to the condition it is in today.
The gravel railroad grade will be widened, filled with about a foot of material and paved before the county takes it over.
Clallam County still owns easement just south of the road for the Olympic Discovery Trail.
“The tribe is actually going to construct both the trail and the road as part of our agreement with them,” Tyler said.
No money is involved in the agreement between the city and the county.
Port Angeles City Manager Kent Myers signed the agreement May 19.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.