As the Port Townsend High School band played Sister Sledge’s 1979 hit song “We Are Family,” Port Townsend Mayor Deborah Stinson cut a ribbon to officially open the new $6.4 million Rainier Street on a cloudy Wednesday.

About 50 people gathered on the slightly chilly, overcast day Nov. 1 to sip free coffee and watch the ceremony that marked the completion of the Rainier Street – formerly Howard Street – extension project.

“This is the last large portion of commercial property in city limits, and this project brings the infrastructure that sets the table for all the many businesses that are going to want to set up shop here,” Stinson said.

“And these are going to be good businesses with family-wage jobs … we’re going to see some real innovative and creative businesses flock to this area.”

Housing could also be included in the area, Stinson said.

The new two-lane road connects Sims Way to Discovery Road to the north. It has bicycle lanes; sidewalks; street lamps; water, sewer and utility lines; and a stormwater system. The project also includes a new roundabout at the intersection with Discovery Road.

The project helps with transportation circulation in the city, the mayor said, and traffic heading to northern parts of the city can now go from Sims to Rainier to Discovery to get there.

“Having this road here will help us divert some traffic off of Sims Way, which, as many of you know, is pretty overloaded during many times of the day,” Stinson said.

ROUNDABOUT

Stinson also wanted to remind people that with the new road, “Remember when you’re doing the roundabout, people aren’t always going to be going straight. More people are going to be coming on around, so yield and watch and keep your eyes open there. It’s a system that works really well, but when people get used to certain traffic patterns, we need to remember [that] now we may see a little change in that pattern,” Stinson said.

Stinson said the project is an example of the importance of all the partnerships and funding opportunities that were presented both at the state and federal levels.

“There’s no way a little city of our size would be able to pull this off without such robust partnerships and investments by the state and federal government to help us succeed in the work we need to accomplish,” Stinson said.

One of those partnerships was with the Washington state Transportation Improvement Board (TIB).

Ashley Probart, executive director for the TIB, attended the ceremony.

“Over about the past 20 years, we participated in 18 different transportation projects with the city, totaling $8 million. We get about 3 cents of the state gas tax and we reinvest it into local transportation projects as well as urban county projects. This one is one of our shining examples here,” Probart said.

“I just want to say up front I tested the roundabout at least four times this morning,” Probart joked. “It’s working seamlessly. I am looking forward on my next trip up here to bring my bike and check out the bike lanes.”

Probart said the TIB contributed $2.2 million to the new road.

Stephanie Tax with the state Department of Transportation also spoke at the ceremony.

Tax said she enjoyed walking along the new road before it was officially opened.

“It’s a really nice project,” Tax said.

“I want to commend your public works staff, because we all know that the federal highway money comes with a lot of strings, and I know your team worked really hard to ensure federal compliance with those funds,” Tax said.

WSDOT contributed $1 million to the project.

City Manager David Timmons said the project was “25 years in the making” and was mostly complete.

“There will be little punch-list things to do” on landscaping, Timmons said.

Rainier Street has programmable LED streetlights that are to be dimmed at night.

The next phase would be to build Seventh Street so that a creamery business project can get underway, Timmons said.

To do that, the city is to talk with property owners about right-of-way and enter discussions with funding agencies.

NO NEED FOR 4 LANES ON SIMS

Probart said the Rainier Street connection is “huge” in that it means the Sims Way area doesn’t have to be “torn up” to widen it from two lanes to four lanes.

“By adding this corridor, it takes a lot of pressure off of the downtown through traffic, which would have otherwise required the discussion of expansion in a built environment, which is extraordinarily expensive when you dislocate businesses and residences. So this is a win-win for the community,” Probart said.

Sims Way had been considered to be a four-lane road, Timmons said.

“If we upgrade Discovery [Road] as an alternative, then we avoid having to go to four lanes on Sims. And that’s primarily driven by the ferry traffic, because that’s a state highway to the ferry terminal,” he said.

“If we build kind of like a local road for residents, it won’t compete with the traffic on the ferry.”

NOT HOWARD STREET

The road previously was called Howard Street, but has been renamed because of the way the new road lines up with the existing Rainier Street to the north. The Port Townsend City Council decided unanimously Sept. 5 to rename the road.

A small section of Howard Street still exists in the area.

SUBAREA PLAN

Also related to the Rainier Street project is a separate “subarea plan” for Rainier Street and Upper Sims Way, which is to focus on encouraging development of a balance of housing and jobs in the area.

The subarea plan covers 238 acres. The city has been working on the plan off and on for more than 20 years.

It is to be the third “central” area in Port Townsend and is meant to complement downtown and the Uptown District in anticipation of city population growth.

LINK: Learn more about the project at the city's website howardstreetextension.wordpress.com.