By Richard Uhlhorn
The meeting on Thursday evening at the Manson Grange to gather community input and concerns about Manson’s traffic issues was well attended but quite bizarre.
Pedoi Street issues:
Chelan County’s Commissioner Tiffany Gearing and Chelan County Engineer Eric Pierson hosted this meeting to address traffic congestion on Pedoi Street. The question to the public was whether or not to turn Pedoi Street into a one way to the east from Manson Bay Park at Manson Blvd. to Harris Avenue to allow easier travel for Link Transit and emergency services.
The problem with Pedoi Street is that it is narrow, and during the summer, it becomes jammed with parked cars, pickups and trailers making it difficult for the Link bus to negotiate and the potential blockage of emergency vehicles.
“We know that Manson gets a lot of visitors in the summer which means a lot of congestion that makes it difficult to get through,” said Pierson. “We are here to look at different options.”
He brought up the possibility of angle parking or even back-up angle parking if the street was converted to one-way. Pedoi has a 20 foot wide lane.
One of the questions raised about turning Pedoi into a one way was the Manson Park boat launch and how trucks and trailers would get out.
Tiffany Gearing told those assemble that the County wasn’t there to tell them what they were going to do, but to gather information on what the Community would like to see.
“There is not enough room for parking on both sides of the street,” she said.
Fire Chief Arnold Baker said, “I need emergency access around town.” He added that legally the fire department could go against the flow of traffic.
“What we are really talking about is the six weeks in the summer,” said Pierson which brought laughter from the crowd. “There is going to be conflict.” The six weeks Pierson alluded to is actually from May through October.
A number of ideas were floated but in the end the Community who attended the meeting overwhelmingly voted to leave Pedoi two-way.
Boetzke and Manson Blvd:
The next issue was whether or not to make Boetzke Avenue a one-way going west and Manson Blvd. going east to relieve some transportation issues.
Residents living on Manson Blvd. asked if the County was suggesting that they would have to drive up Boztke and back down Manson Blvd. to reach their homes.
Gearing stated that the major complaints that she has heard is the speeding on Manson Blvd. Trucking issues were also brought up. “This is a plan that will take a long time and we need to know if it is dead on arrival,” asked Pierson.
Gearing also remarked that the Sheriff’s Department has written a lot of speeding tickets on Manson Blvd. It was also noted that there is 10 times the traffic on Manson Blvd. then on Boetzke.
Manson Community Council chair, Kari Sorenson stated that there is no room for two traveling opposite directions on Boetzke and wondered if the Island at the west end of Boetzke and Manson Blvd. couldn’t be removed and that intersection enlarged to allow trucks the ability to turn onto Boetzke instead of traveling down Manson Blvd. and through town.
“The idea,” said Gearing, “is to help solve some of these issues.”
One resident asked if Photo Enforcement wasn’t a possibility? Pierson replied that photo enforcement is only allowed in certain areas.
Gearing asked Pierson if the County couldn’t make the Boetzke/Manson Blvd. intersection easier for trucks? Pierson replied, “How much money do you have?”
Gearing told the community that they could email their comments to publicworks@co.chelan.wa.us. to continue the discussion.
All Things Lake Chelan 