CLICK TO TAKE THE SURVEY
— from Christine Coray, Public Works —
Preliminary map for location of proposed park-and-ride lot at Orcas Ferry Landing, north of the current ticket booth and east of Orcas Hill Road.
San Juan County Public Works (SJCPW) has been awarded a $760,000 grant by Washington State Department of Transportation which will be used to provide safe parking for Orcas Island ferry users.
The funds will go toward designing and constructing a park-and-ride facility; the first of its kind for San Juan County. An overwhelming need exists to eliminate the unsafe parking along Orcas Road that has historically occurred. As a remedy for the problem, a plan for a park-and-ride at this Washington State Ferries owned location, has been in the works for several years.
The intent of the project is to create an 80-100 stall parking area with reliable short and long-term parking solutions. In addition to providing safer and longer duration parking, the new Orcas Village Park-and-Ride will:
- Discourage single occupancy vehicle ridership on the ferries and freeways
- Improve traffic circulation in Orcas Village
- Expand handicapped parking in the current 72-hour parking area at the ferry terminal
- Preserve the natural beauty of Orcas Village
- Accommodate electric vehicle charging needs
This Spring, utilizing the public process, SJCPW expects to incorporate citizen input into the design. The public process will include an online survey polling platform; another first for SJCPW.
To participate in the survey, please follow the link: www.surveymonkey.com/r/SZHLP3M. Or visit the current projects page of the San Juan County Public Works Webpage www.sanjuanco.com/278/Current-Projects for a link to the survey.
[Editor’s Note: The parcel under consideration is currently owned by WSF. San Juan County would, then, lease the property from WSF for the park-and-ride. Christine Coray, Project Engineer, notes this is a design challenge, as the County strives to preserve trees and cause as little damage to rocks as possible.]
The design of the park-and-ride will be performed by Public Works staff and aims to use innovative, context sensitive design principles. SJCPW aspires to have the park-and-ride open for use in the spring of 2017.
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That lot looks like a great place to build a grocery store. perhaps it could be called Rosauer’s. Oh, never mind, someone already tried that!!
Interestingly, the topic of adequate parking in the Orcas Village has been an issue for more than the 40 years that I have lived on Orcas. In ancient history, as old-time islanders surely remember, there was no ferry lot and the parking line often stretched down the County Rd and up Willard’s Hill past the Humes’ farm, a mile from the ferry dock. How many folks remember the visitors camped out in the road on lawn chairs with the car doors wide open?
My wonderment is to ask why the County has taken 40 years to address this serious issue. After the ferry staging lot was built, the long lines disappeared, except on those super-busy Sundays and Holiday Mondays when access to the toll booth stretched down the road once again.
More importantly, I wonder if having a parking lot will cause Orcas residents to modify their travel habits to, and on the mainland. Will neighbors “double-up”? Will those neighbors be able to co-ordinate their shopping and doctor appts. when on the mainland? The results of the survey should shed light on those unknowns. I certainly hope that the State and County don’t spend those precious tax dollars until they have definitive answers to the survey questions which I was unable to access for some reason.
It is a commendable effort to lesson the traffic on the highways, and, I suspect, a strategy to stretch the capacity of the ferries to meet the growing needs of the Islands. However, we are all wedded to our automobiles, nearly from birth, and, as is said, it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
Maybe the idea of car sharing can have a place here. Seattle seems to like it.