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SPECIAL REPORT - CONSTRUCTION
Traffic study puts future Gig Harbor North
developments on hold
By Rodika Tollefson |
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Development at the bustling Gig Harbor North development will slow down until a traffic study is complete. The St. Anthony’s Hospital project is in jeopardy, as well as a several others.
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A task force comprised of officials from Gig Harbor, Pierce County, Legislative District 26 and other stakeholders is discussing potential solutions to a roadblock that will delay or even potentially cancel plans by Franciscan Health Systems to build a hospital in Gig Harbor North.
A recent traffic study showed that the hospital will exceed the capacity of the road infrastructure in Gig Harbor North, where the proposed site is located.
The traffic study, commissioned by the city of Gig Harbor, was part of the comprehensive plan amendment that Franciscan needed to submit for the site. “In the end, we felt we needed to do our own analysis,” said city Community Development Director John Vodopich. Franciscan submitted its own traffic analysis that didn’t show significant traffic impact; hospital officials said they used they city’s own traffic data.
According to Vodopich, the city’s study relied on new traffic counts. The original projections did not anticipate the area to generate as much through traffic.
“The traffic study looked at corridor-wide (picture) and concluded even without Franciscan, there is going to be a problem” Vodopich said.
The news doesn’t impact plans to bring a Costco and YMCA facility to Gig Harbor North. The projects, part of Olympic Property Group’s (OPG) Gig Harbor North developments, already had reserved traffic capacity.
All the permits have been filed with the city for the 148,000-square foot Costco, with construction expected to start next spring or summer, said John Chadwell, OPG project manager. The YMCA has a similar timeline. The Costco project will include five other retail buildings, with the biggest being 14,000 square feet.
As part of its Harbor Hill complex, OPG will widen Borgen Boulevard and one of the roundabouts, as well as build an additional roundabout and a large water tank the size of a 15-story building.
OPG owns a total of more than 300 acres in Gig Harbor North, including residential land. However, due to the new traffic capacity problem that land cannot be developed either until the infrastructure is improved. Rough estimates showed it would cost about $40 million to add the needed capacity, with potential solutions including expanding the overpass, adding shunt lanes, or adding a new highway interchange near Purdy. Only about 10 percent of Gig Harbor North has been developed so far.
Vodopich said the task force looking into an intermediary fix for the hospital should have an initial recommendation in September. The goal is to try to help the hospital while “still recognizing that the traffic corridor has a problem,” he said. |
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