A pedestrian friendly downtown is the goal of the Downtown Kingston Association. Currently State Highway #104, which runs through our downtown area, is the entrance to the ferry lanes. Traffic races toward the tollbooths, ignoring the speed limit and oblivious to the safety of nearby people.

Light poles bolted to the sidewalks along State Highway #104 have been knocked down and damaged twice in the last few months. On the first occasion, a pedestrian received a head injury from a falling light pole that was struck by a motorist speeding to the ferry. Medics transported the woman to Harrison Hospital.

Kingston High School will open in September 2007, bringing students to our downtown during lunch breaks and after school. We are concerned that our downtown streets and sidewalks provide a safe environment for our youth.

A solution to this downtown pedestrian safety issue is an alternate ferry routing study, done by WSDOT in 2002. The study proposes changing the present westbound exit lanes of the ferry into two exit lanes and one entrance lane for ferry traffic, thus removing traffic from our downtown area. A car staging area located outside of town is part of the project.

Unfortunately the engineering details of the plan were destroyed in a fire, and consequently, money will be required to redo some of the engineering work. Funds for the study and Highway #104 reroute do not appear on the WSDOT budget, which runs until 2008. It will take legislative action to get this project funded.

The Downtown Kingston Association believes that moving the highway, along with installing more sidewalks, will help improve economic development in our downtown core. Frequently ferry traffic backs up in the downtown area, blocking access to local establishments.

The DKA is surveying Kingston Chamber members on this issue. Please E-mail Nancy Tietje at exec@kingstonchamber.com by August 24th and let us know if you support moving State Highway #104. If we have your approval and support, the Downtown Kingston Association is willing to spearhead this pedestrian safety issue. Talk it up with your friends and neighbors and let us hear from you.