Shelton staff lean toward removing on‑street parking on Olympic Highway North to boost safety and future capacity
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Summary
Public works presented four design options for Olympic Highway North at the March 24 study session and recommended Option 4, which would remove on‑street parking to provide bike lanes on both sides and wider travel lanes; staff cited safety, future arterial capacity and available state design funding as key factors.
At a March 24 Shelton City Council study session, public works staff presented four conceptual designs for the Olympic Highway North revitalization and told the council they can proceed with Option 4 — removing on‑street parking to accommodate bike lanes on both sides and wider traffic lanes — as the preferred direction for detailed design.
The project presentation, led by public works staff and a consultant, summarized outreach (a neighborhood meeting and a short online survey), safety analysis and a four‑option feasibility study. Staff said roughly 20 people responded to the survey, about 80% supported proceeding with a project, and roughly half of respondents selected Option 3 (a two‑way cycle track) as their top choice. Staff cautioned the outreach sample was small but said safety and pavement condition were the dominant themes from the public meeting.
Public works staff introduced a Level of Traffic Stress (LTS) analysis — a 1–4 metric used to evaluate bicyclist and pedestrian comfort — and said WSDOT guidance aims for an LTS of 2 or lower. The handout compared the options against that LTS scale and showed the no‑build choice scored worse than the build options. Staff also read posted and 85th‑percentile speeds: the posted speed is 30 miles per hour and 85th‑percentile speeds are in the low 30s, and the handout listed average daily traffic near about 8,996 and 10,008 at two count locations.
Staff and the consultant flagged technical tradeoffs. Option 3 — the two‑way cycle track popular with some residents — would require sidewalk widening near Fred Meyer, termination treatments at intersections, new signal work at Olympic Highway North and K Street, and additional design and construction funding tied to federal grant requirements. "Because this involves federal funding…a complete nightmare," said Aaron, a public works staff member, describing the added compliance and design work federal funding can trigger.
Option 4, by contrast, removes parking on both sides, creates consistent bike lanes with buffer space, and is described by staff as the most future‑proof solution for an arterial that could carry higher volumes as the area develops. Staff also emphasized the tradeoff: Option 4 is unpopular with some business owners who prefer on‑street parking and would require public outreach and enforcement to prevent parking in bike lanes.
Staff told the council that preliminary conversations with state partners show some related intersection design funding in mid‑range state budgets and that Representative Griffey has offered to coordinate a meeting with WSDOT. Staff also noted early state budget figures for a related intersection project (about $300,000 in design and several million in later‑year construction funding) but said the corridor build‑out is conceptual and long‑term.
Several council members said they prefer the long‑term safety and capacity benefits of Option 4 despite short‑term pushback from parking‑dependent businesses. After discussion, staff reported hearing a council preference for Option 4 and said designers may proceed to develop that option and carry out targeted outreach to adjacent business owners and nearby residents. Staff said additional geotechnical and traffic analysis will be required during design and that construction timing and detour impacts will be part of future public outreach.
Next steps: staff will begin design work on the council‑preferred option, refine cost estimates as design advances, and return with more detailed analysis and outreach plans for future council review.
