City staff urges roundabout metering for Gig Harbor North after 'what‑if' traffic model shows decline to LOS E

Public works staff recommended reintroducing a roundabout metering project into Gig Harbor’s six‑year Transportation Improvement Program after a traffic model 'what‑if' scenario showed the intersection’s level of service would slip below the city’s acceptable standard.

Public Works Director Jeff Langhall told council the city’s 2024 transportation element establishes LOS D as the threshold the city treats as acceptable. He said the baseline model that included projects already in the pipeline left the roundabout at LOS D with about 47 seconds of average delay, but a front‑loaded hypothetical of additional apartment projects produced LOS E and roughly 57 seconds of delay. "Concurrency is required by the Growth Management Act," Langhall said, describing why mitigation must be planned ahead rather than after congestion appears.

The staff recommendation asks council to back up a metering project into the TIP so the city can design and fund it as needed. Langhall said the metering approach would not increase the roundabout’s total capacity but would create gaps that reduce average delay for the other approaches. "It will increase the delay on that leg, but it will significantly reduce the others," he said, adding the meter would include safeties so lengthy queues clear when needed.

Council members pressed staff on several technical points, including why the city selects LOS D (a policy, not a federal standard), how emergency vehicles would traverse a metered leg, and why staff emphasized the PM peak period. Langhall and a second staff member said the city models the PM peak because it is typically the most constrained hour and that emergency response is accounted for operationally: emergency vehicles could use the roundabout center or opposite lanes with lights and sirens when needed.

A resident who identified himself as Tom spoke during public comment and said he has "no difficulty" driving the roundabout and worried metering would push backups into other nearby intersections. Other council members acknowledged those concerns but favored keeping the mitigation project on the TIP so the city can act if development accelerates.

Council gave staff direction to include the metering project in TIP materials and to return with cost estimates and funding options before final budget or TIP decisions. The item will appear again in upcoming transportation briefings so council can review funding, design, and public‑outreach plans.