PORT TOWNSEND — The city of Port Townsend, still facing an uphill battle, plans to continue making steady headway on its long-neglected streets system this year.
City staff members presented an update at Monday’s city council meeting on the Transportation Benefit District (TBD), streets grants and their plan to take on projects on 8.5 miles of 24 city streets this year.
Planned work for the year includes chip sealing, drainage improvements, shoulder work, hot spot repairs and preparatory work for future street preservation projects.
“Every ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure in this business,” Public Works Director Steve King said.
Staff said streets are prioritized based on preservation value, traffic volume, drainage conditions and the goal of reducing long-term maintenance burdens across the city.
“The council’s direction is that we try to get the streets that cause the most labor, and also obviously streets that are higher volumes,” King said.
King acknowledged that significant problem streets remain, including Polk Street and other corridors with unresolved drainage and infrastructure failures.
“It’s becoming truly treacherous. It’s a disaster at this point,” council member David Faber said.
Mike Connelly, a civil engineer at the city, said preparatory work would begin this spring, with major chip sealing and surface treatments scheduled for late summer through early fall, followed by project closeout by November.
“The big projects (Like Lawrence Street) will continue on,” King said.
An agenda document listed 5.5 miles of projects on 14 city streets in 2025.
Jefferson County Public Works Director Monte Reinders, who was present Monday night, pointed out that not all city streets projects were included on the list.
The city must have completed more like seven miles total, Reinders said.
“I just pay attention because I live in the city,” Reinders said. “You guys did a commendable amount of work for only having 80 miles. I wish we were doing 10 percent of the county’s system every year.”
King laughed and said he liked the way Reinders reflected the figures.
Connelly said a notable portion of completed work reflected use of banked capacity, which allowed projects approved in prior years but delayed by grants or scheduling to be carried forward. Six out of seven banked capacity projects were completed in 2025. A project on Holcomb Street has been carried over to this year.
Council member Libby Urner-Wennstrom said when she began on council, potholes were the primary topic of questioning and feedback from the community. While the public still approaches her about potholes, she said she now has a robust set of plans and projects she can point them toward.
County partnership
The city’s public works department secured a Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) grant after the year’s budget was completed. The city also won the grant in 2025, marking the second consecutive year it has received TIB funding.
The addition of the grant could have resulted in the city going over capacity in what it could do, requiring staff to reel other projects back, but a partnership with Jefferson County’s Public Works Department is allowing the work to stay on this year’s schedule.
“This partnership with the county has really been a win-win because they have a very successful chip-seal program and all the equipment and expertise,” Connelly said.
Reinders said the county has benefited as well. Owning and maintaining the specialized equipment needed for chip sealing is expensive, and the county’s chip-sealing program has shrunk by 25 percent in recent years.
“We really need the city’s work to make the program big enough to support that equipment,” Reinders said.
The Board of Jefferson County Commissioners formed a TBD in unincorporated Jefferson County at the end of 2024. Last November, voters passed an increase in the TBD sales tax from one-tenth of 1 percent to three-tenths of 1 percent.
Despite the TBD’s formation and increase, the county’s roads program is struggling, Reinders said.
To view the agenda document, which includes a list of roads planned for projects, plus a breakdown of how the TBD funding is distributed, visit tinyurl.com/4yp4ex8c.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@peninsuladailynews.com.
