Seaside commission weighs tradeoffs on Broadway and Highway 101 redesign

The Transportation Commission reviewed design alternatives on the intersection of Broadway and Highway 101 in Seaside, with staff presenting four options that trade improved traffic flow and left‑turn safety against the loss of on‑street parking for downtown businesses. Spencer, a city staff member, told commissioners that ODOT funded the project because the intersection ranks high for crashes and that construction is targeted for the 2027 season.

Staff described the four options as: (1) the ODOT standard build, which provides the best traffic function and protected left‑turn lanes but removes the most west‑side parking (staff estimated about 11 spaces lost); (2) a balance build that reduces parking loss to roughly six spaces at the cost of a slightly shorter taper; (3) a parking‑preservation design that preserves most on‑street parking (about two spaces lost in staff’s corrected counts) but yields less favorable traffic performance; and (4) a low‑build/no‑build option that replaces aging signals without installing protected left‑turn lanes.

"We lose about 11 parking spots this way, but we preserve these on the other side," Spencer said while walking the commission through the ODOT standard diagrams. He emphasized that all three build alternatives include protected left‑turn lanes and arrows; the low‑build alternative replaces signals only.

Staff presented ODOT traffic modeling looking 20 years ahead. Without improvements, weekday eastbound delay on Broadway could rise to about 143 seconds and westbound to about 114 seconds; the three build options would reduce Broadway delays by roughly 75–100 seconds (to about 41–42 seconds), while the intersection‑level average delay improves modestly (about 49 to the mid‑40s seconds). "Not doing anything is the biggest negative impact in the long run," Spencer said, framing the tradeoff between future congestion and present parking loss.

Commissioners pressed staff about local business impacts. Terry, a downtown business owner, said the middle option appealed to him: "I would go with the least amount of backup… go with the six or the middle one," citing concern that removing too many on‑street spots would hurt retail and restaurants. Staff noted privately owned lots behind some buildings (for example, Seaside Brewing’s lot) but said the city does not own replacement parcels to absorb the on‑street losses.

On pedestrian accommodations, staff said the city secured grant funding to upgrade push‑button signals to audible/vocal units for people with visual impairments; those upgraded signals have been ordered and were expected to be installed the following month. Staff also noted that an underused midblock crossing near local businesses was proposed for removal in the build options to simplify tradeoffs, but acknowledged the pedestrian tradeoffs involved.

Commissioners asked about other ideas previously discussed, including making the west section of Broadway one‑way to preserve parking. Staff said that option was removed from consideration because the ODOT funding requires adding a left‑turn lane; converting to one‑way would have eliminated the left‑turn and thus would not qualify for the grant.

Staff outlined next steps: open houses the week of June 1 to gather public feedback, a targeted commission vote on June 18 to form a recommendation, and City Council consideration on June 22 so the city can deliver direction to ODOT. No formal commission vote occurred at the meeting.

The discussion also included a separate conversation about committee operations and attendance; commissioners said clearer council direction and a consistent agenda process could improve participation and the commission’s ability to do technical work for council.

The commission asked staff to refine the parking counts and graphics with ODOT ahead of public outreach, then return with materials to support a June recommendation to council.