Sequim Planning Commission reviews Transportation chapter draft, keeps vehicular LOS D citywide; signal, multimodal upgrades planned
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Summary
The Sequim Planning Commission reviewed a draft Transportation chapter of the 2025 comprehensive plan, retained a citywide vehicular level‑of‑service (LOS) D with Washington Street set at a lower standard downtown, and heard staff timelines for signal cabinet upgrades, Prairie Street complete‑streets work and multimodal 'level of stress' mapping.
Sequim — The Planning Commission on July 15 reviewed the draft Transportation chapter of the city’s 2025 comprehensive plan and discussed how Growth Management Act requirements, multimodal performance measures and financing will be folded into the Transportation Master Plan and the capital facilities plan.
Carla, a planning staff presenter, said the draft carries the city’s existing vehicular LOS policy forward: "the level the vehicular level of service is, except for Washington Street, a level of service D, and then Washington Street has a level service F within the downtown, and they must maintain a level service E outside of the downtown." The draft also adds pedestrian and bicycle performance measures (pedestrian and bicycle level of traffic stress) required by recent state changes.
City engineer Nick and staff walked commissioners through the technical approach: land‑use assumptions will feed a travel‑demand model to forecast traffic and identify intersections that fall below adopted LOS standards. Nick described the city's existing signal coordination on Washington and an atypical midday peak roughly between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. He said coordination prioritizes east–west travel and that cabinet/channel limits constrain timing options: "we have only 6 ways to influence traffic...we need a minimum of 8 to make significant difference, and I believe we're going for a total of 12." He gave an implementation timeline for the most actionable item: "advertising that in Q4 of this year...design in '26, construction '27." (staff comments)
Commissioners pressed on multimodal measures and definitions. Staff confirmed PLTS (Pedestrian Level of Traffic Stress) and BLTS (Bicycle Level of Traffic Stress) will be developed with the TMP; preliminary 'heat maps' have been prepared to show stress levels up to four. When asked for facility examples, staff said pedestrian facilities include sidewalks and shared‑use paths; bicycle facilities range from shoulders to separated bike lanes.
Financing and schedule: staff described funding sources used historically and in the draft — Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) grants, federal funding routed through state/local programs (STBG), and the city’s Transportation Benefit District (TBD). Nick said the city is exploring bonding TBD revenues to reliably finance sidewalk and local projects that are not competitive for state or federal grants. He estimated a Prairie Street complete‑streets project at roughly $8–10 million and noted it will likely be phased; he gave a best‑case multi‑project window out to about 2031 for signal and complete‑street upgrades, dependent on funding.
Commissioners also raised impact fees, which one commissioner noted are about 10 years old and among the lowest in Western Washington; staff confirmed impact fees will be reviewed during the TMP update and offered options including indexing or periodic five‑year reviews.
No formal vote was taken on the Transportation chapter at this meeting. Staff said the TMP will provide detailed project lists, financing plans, and updated traffic modeling and will return to commissioners for further review. Carla also said the climate and resiliency chapter and Parks & Open Space chapter are scheduled to be considered in August.
