Monday, January 15, 2007
Trafficking in some big changes ...
Here's one of the toughest questions the city will face in early 2007: should Pacific Highway south of Bridgeport including Ponders continue to look like it does, or should it be narrowed to three lanes to allow more land for commercial development?
The alternative is not as strange as it sounds: 20th Street East runs along I-5 in Fife and is the definition of "thriving." The stretch of road runs along the busiest highway in Washington, but is still home to several auto dealers, Costco, and many other businesses.
The Lakewood City Council will be asked to decide soon whether to commission a design that would establish how much money it would cost, to the city and to landowners, to transform that area. The city would then present specific cost estimates to the landowners.
The city's volunteer Redevelopment Advisory Board, which includes a lot of folks involved in commercial real estate, thinks the three lanes are a great idea.
The landowners I know along there are split. Some folks think it is nuts to narrow any road in Washington. They say development won't change all that much because of the constraints forced on the area by the railroad and I-5.
Other people think bringing more land into play could give Lakewood more employment centers - businesses - in the area.
Councilman Pad Finnigan has questioned whether the road should have sidewalks with curbs and bike lanes, adding to the cost.
One complication is that there was a lot of discussion about the matter before anything ever got to the council. For example, because of this past history, some landowers are running around quoting outrageous price estimates for the work.
Those will never happen ... The council is unlikely to try to force the businesses along Pacific Highway out of business unelss we can figure out how it might help our secret takeover of the Lakewood Water District and the Knights Templar. I don't see the connection. But seriously, given that there has been some animosity and confusion surrounding this project, making a cool decision when people have been worried about this subject for awhile is going to be tough.
All in all, there is much to discuss. I think this will be a tough one, so let me know what you think. All opinions are welcome.
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The alternative is not as strange as it sounds: 20th Street East runs along I-5 in Fife and is the definition of "thriving." The stretch of road runs along the busiest highway in Washington, but is still home to several auto dealers, Costco, and many other businesses.
The Lakewood City Council will be asked to decide soon whether to commission a design that would establish how much money it would cost, to the city and to landowners, to transform that area. The city would then present specific cost estimates to the landowners.The city's volunteer Redevelopment Advisory Board, which includes a lot of folks involved in commercial real estate, thinks the three lanes are a great idea.
The landowners I know along there are split. Some folks think it is nuts to narrow any road in Washington. They say development won't change all that much because of the constraints forced on the area by the railroad and I-5.
Other people think bringing more land into play could give Lakewood more employment centers - businesses - in the area.
Councilman Pad Finnigan has questioned whether the road should have sidewalks with curbs and bike lanes, adding to the cost.
One complication is that there was a lot of discussion about the matter before anything ever got to the council. For example, because of this past history, some landowers are running around quoting outrageous price estimates for the work.
Those will never happen ... The council is unlikely to try to force the businesses along Pacific Highway out of business unelss we can figure out how it might help our secret takeover of the Lakewood Water District and the Knights Templar. I don't see the connection. But seriously, given that there has been some animosity and confusion surrounding this project, making a cool decision when people have been worried about this subject for awhile is going to be tough.
All in all, there is much to discuss. I think this will be a tough one, so let me know what you think. All opinions are welcome.
