City must make improvements to Canterwood

of the Gateway

DON’T rush to judgment on the City of Gig Harbor’s decision this week to close Canterwood Boulevard for up to three months.

Sure, it’s short notice. We’re talking about a window between July 15 and Sept. 15. And yes, city officials mentioned fast-tracking Canterwood improvements at a Gig Harbor North Traffic Options Committee meeting in late March.

But because of funding and environmental concerns, this is the city’s only shot before St. Anthony Hospital comes online early next year.

Think about how clogged those roundabouts already are at Borgen, Burnham and state Route 16. It’s so confusing that even when you know which direction you want to go, you can still take a wrong turn. And yet, with the exception of rush hour traffic, you can still navigate through the intersection without facing gridlock.

That won’t be the case if the city doesn’t take advantage of this window — and the timeframe can’t be moved. The state Department of Ecology will only allow construction on the fish culvert during that three-month time period this year or next year and still be covered by the state CERB grant.

So if the city waits, it’ll be too late to help traffic. Gridlock and Gig Harbor North will become synonymous. The two-lane Canterwood Boulevard, with an increased traffic load because of St. Anthony, new homes and additional businesses, will feed directly into that six-legged roundabout that will bottleneck, keeping additional vehicles sitting even longer after trips from more new businesses such as Costco or the YMCA.

The project, which is still in the design phase, will widen Canterwood to allow for increased traffic flow. Later, interim improvements to the SR 16 interchange will configure slip lanes so some drivers can avoid going through the roundabout all together. Hopefully the city can configure a detour route so hospital construction won’t be too disturbed.

It may be a painful summer for some drivers, but this is a necessary evil. It must be done while the opportunity exists.