PORT ANGELES — Clallam County intends to build a road on top of city of Port Angeles territory that will eventually serve as the primary access route to the Lower Ehwha Klallam tribe.
The new road will link the Old Milwaukee Railroad grade, currently Kacee Way, with Stratton Road on the reservation west of Port Angeles.
Clallam County Commissioners Steve Tharinger and Mike Chapman on Monday directed staff to develop a memorandum of understanding with the city of Port Angeles containing terms, maintenance responsibilities and liability.
Commissioner Mike Doherty is on vacation and did not attend the work session.
The county, which is not paying for the construction, will take jurisdiction of the road off the reservation. The tribe is paying for the project through grants from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The city has a 24-inch water main on the railroad grade.
When the project is finished in two or three years, the pipe will be located between the paved road and the Olympic Discovery Trail.
Ross Tyler, Clallam County engineer, said the utility line will need to be replaced in about 30 years. When that happens, the new water main will probably be dug beneath the county road.
Tyler and County Administrator Jim Jones met with city officials three weeks ago on the terms of the agreement.
The city’s Utility Advisory Committee and several City Council members sought a concurrence of a quorum of county commissioners before drafting a letter of understanding.
After the first two phases of the project, Stratton Road will be connected to Kaycee Way.
The gravel road will be gated, however, until the tribe gets additional federal dollars and the road gets paved.
Gravel roads are costly to maintain, Tyler explained.
“We just wanted to keep it traffic-minimum,” he said.
Tyler said the gate would open if there were an earthquake or tsunami warning, or if Lower Elwha Road — the tribe’s only access route — should close.
Normally, the county would buy right of way before issuing a franchise for a utility line.
“In this case, the city has the superior rights to the property, so we need to make them whole as well as us,” said Craig Jacobs, Clallam County public works director.
“We have an obligation then, once we accept this road and the road’s built, to maintain that. I really don’t see us taking on a huge amount of more risk than we do on any other county road.”
In April, the three county commissioners voted to vacate ownership of Stratton Road. The tribe will transfer the road to the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The county has been working on the Stratton Road project for more than three years.
“The city and the county really have worked pretty hard with the tribe to get this whole concept down,” Jacobs said.
“This is a major issue for the tribe and their access to the reservation. I think, really, all three agencies benefit from the agreements.”