Guest Opinion | Prune Alley — We CAN do better

||| FROM FRED KLEIN |||

OPEN LETTER TO COUNCIL:

September 29, 2020

To: San Juan County Council, Councilmen Hughes, Stephens, and Watson

Gentlemen,

Once again I want to thank you for discussing Prune Alley at your meeting on September 15th. You have the power to redirect this project from being an unwanted deviation from the cherished aesthetics of Eastsound to a welcome solution to longstanding issues of pedestrian safety and infrastructure needs within the village.

I regret that a long-standing doctor’s appointment in Bellingham prevents me from being present before you Tuesday morning, so I submit the following for your consideration.

To paraphrase Rogers & Hammerstein from the musical, OKLAHOMA !!…

”Everything’s gonna be up to date in Eastsound…
they’ve gone about as far as they can go”…

But the question remains: Do Islanders really want to go there?

I ask that you ponder that question while focusing on two aspects of the project: namely, the street intersections, and the complete lack of street trees on the east side of the street.

Three issues seem to me to be particularly relevant:

1. Regarding the scope of the Prune Alley project, what exactly has been previously approved by vote of the Council, and were the implications of the graphics presented by Public Works fully understood and appreciated by Council at that time?

While it is true that some amount of brick has been shown on the drawings for Prune Alley for some time, it was only with the KGB’s 60% submission that I became aware of the raised intersections, the full width concrete roadway ramps, the decorative concrete cross walks, and their implications for the complexity of the project.

Our County Engineer has agreed with me that there are much simpler and less expensive ways to meet the requirements for ADA-compliant crosswalks, both with and without dedication of additional r.o.w. from property owners.

Did the Council fully understand the complexity of of the street intersections when it signed off on these quite elaborate and completely non-essential constructions?

And what about EPRC’s advisory to Council that the concrete ramps and crosswalks be done in brick?…a recommendation seemingly accepted by our County Engineer…would this be brick-on-sand, or brick-over-concrete?…what about Council’s previous approvals which had been conditioned upon NO changes from the KGB documents?

2. Does Council really believe that the cost of the proposed brick and concrete roadway at the four street intersection is no more than the cost of asphalt or chip seal?

I was truly astonished the other day when Councilman Hughes claimed to me that “brick paving was no more expensive than chip seal.”

Think of it…imagine on one hand, road graders and rollers moving up and down the street through the intersections and around the curved curbs…maintaining the desired crown in the roadway and finishing it off with asphalt or chip seal…(pretty straightforward)…AND, on the other hand, imagine having that chip seal terminate at a concrete ramp which has meticulously been formed to the arc of the crown of the roadway…Then imagine the concrete, formed to precise dimensions essential to contain the modular brick pavers which have been individually hand placed on, again, a 2” thick sand bed, precisely graded to a subtle crown, essential for proper drainage of the finished surface.

The use of differing surface materials and their underlying bases…with joints between them (of course)…there is a risk of water intrusion which can cause real headaches.

This is the work of highly skilled tradesmen (if not artisans) in order to achieve a maintenance-free roadway which can stand up to 18 wheelers and the heavy duty dump trucks common to Orcas…it does not come cheap.

It remains to be seen just how the pedestrian cross walks will be identified. Notwithstanding the change of material between the roadway and the crosswalk, our County Engineer is uncertain as to whether or not the conventional white, torch-down strips will be necessary to ensure pedestrian safety. It strikes me that scoring of the concrete cross walks into 30” squares is insufficient to create a sense of a pedestrian safety zone.

Councilman Hughes also admonished me for publishing an article which focused on just one street intersection, so I include below plans of all four intersections which identify the ramps, crosswalks, and decorative bricked areas in all their glory and complexity:

Fern Street Intersection…

A Street Intersection…

High School Road Intersection…

Rose Street Intersection…

3. Does the design of the proposed four street intersections and the complete lack of street trees on the east side enhance or detract from the so-called and much beloved “village character”?

What’s missing in the present design for Prune Alley is an understanding of the value of Eastsound’s unique “sense of place” in a world which is fast becoming homogenized in so many ways.

Why in the world would we want to embellish Eastsound with trendy, expensive, elaborations which are showing up on the streets of small towns all over the country which are eager to attract attention and make a name for themselves?…This is NOT a path which will serve Eastsound in the long run.

I submit that the elaborations of the street intersections are totally alien to the ambiance of Eastsound and that the failure to prioritize the planting of street trees on the east side of the four blocks of Prune Alley is a lost opportunity to ensure that as time goes on, Eastsound will retain its emphasis on landscaping which is a key element of its charm and uniqueness.

Precisely how, in defense of the project in its present form, EPRC can make the truly astounding claim that these street intersections maintain “…a low-key, informal look appropriate to our small village” boggles my mind. I have, however, heard one EPRC member describe Eastsound as “a hick town with little to recommend it,” so it’s difficult for me to understand how the committee reaches its conclusions.

*****
My critique of the street intersections and the lack of street trees is NOT an effort to block this project; rather, it is an effort to allow it to move forward in a sensible fashion; namely, by eliminating all the elaborations at the street intersections, and prioritizing the relocation of existing utilities to allow for the planting of street trees on the east side.
*****

I will end my presentation with a few comments on a recent photo of Main Street…the view that greets both the islander and the visitor as they enter the village from the west.

My initial critique of the Prune Alley project was published in The Orcasonian.

That Guest Opinion garnered THIRTY THREE positive comments from readers and ZERO negatives…truly unprecedented in the history of local media on an island of very opinionated residents…and all very supportive of curbs, safe ADA-compliant sidewalks, under grounding of overhead utilities, street trees, and a renewed roadway.

Please do the right thing and alter the course of this important, and potentially transformative project. Listen to your constituents; I’ve said my piece.