Gig Harbor staff recommend narrower design that cuts tree loss, council asks for hybrid and crossing options

Associate Engineer Chloe Weiser presented two design options for CRP 2325, the Peacock Hill Half‑Street improvement project, and asked the council for direction on which concept to carry forward.

"I'm here today to talk about 2 design options for CIP 2325 Peacock Hill Half Street improvement project," Weiser said, describing a corridor that runs from Apollo Way south to Ringgold Street and currently has no continuous sidewalk.

Option 1 follows city public‑works standards: an 11‑foot travel lane, a 5‑foot bike lane, a 5‑foot planter strip and a 5.5‑foot concrete sidewalk. Weiser told council that design 1 would require about 10 feet of right‑of‑way acquisition from eight property owners, removal of 24 trees in public right‑of‑way plus seven trees on private property, and a roughly $93,000 right‑of‑way acquisition cost. Under city replanting rules, design 1 would trigger a requirement to replant approximately 90 one‑inch‑diameter trees.

Option 2 keeps the 11‑foot travel lane and 5‑foot bike lane but replaces the planter with a wider 6.5‑foot sidewalk. Weiser said design 2 would require about 5 feet of right‑of‑way acquisition on affected parcels, remove an estimated 15 public‑right‑of‑way trees and two private trees, and raise the city's replanting requirement to 17 one‑inch trees. Weiser said right‑of‑way acquisition cost for design 2 was about $69,000.

Council members raised safety, drainage and neighborhood impacts. One council member said Peacock Hill is a high‑speed corridor in many places and expressed concern that removing the planter strip would place pedestrians closer to moving traffic. Weiser and other staff described tradeoffs: the planter strip can be used for bioretention (stormwater treatment) and provides separation from the travel lane, but it increases property takings, tree removals, and design/construct costs.

Staff noted the corridor is a bus and school‑bus route and said that the southbound travel lane must remain 11 feet wide for vehicle access, which limits the ability to reduce lane width to create more buffer space for pedestrians. Council members asked staff to evaluate traffic‑calming measures that do not conflict with bus operations, possible 10‑foot travel lane exceptions (which staff cautioned may not be viable for this route), and whether a hybrid solution could reduce impacts while keeping a buffer where feasible.

Council also asked staff to study pedestrian crossing locations. Several members suggested adding a mid‑block crossing near the southern end of the project to connect existing sidewalks on opposite sides of Peacock Hill; staff estimated a typical concrete crosswalk installation at roughly $10,000 and said raised or enhanced crosswalk options could be explored.

Staff's near‑term recommendation was to proceed with design option 2 as the 30 percent design submittal while preparing alternate hybrid concepts and traffic‑calming options that would be returned to council for further direction. Council indicated general support for pursuing option 2 with additional study of hybrid designs, tree impacts, stormwater treatment alternatives and mid‑block crossing placement, but no formal vote was recorded at the study session.

The project remains in design; staff said additional right‑of‑way negotiation, potential temporary easements, and detailed stormwater design (including whether bioretention can be included) will affect final costs and schedule. Council requested that staff return with refined options showing a middle ground between the two alternatives and with cost estimates and trade‑offs for tree removals, right‑of‑way acquisitions, and stormwater treatment.

What happens next: staff will amend the design contract if necessary to develop hybrid alternatives and include an evaluation of pedestrian crossing locations and traffic‑calming measures compatible with bus and school‑bus operations.