State assesses access to Highway 14 at Washougal

The Washington Department of Transportation is planning to redesign two problematic intersections along state Highway 14 in Washougal, but a lot of planning is needed before construction begins.

“We’re trying to build something that meets the needs of as many people as possible,” WSDOT spokeswoman Tamara Greenwell said.

According to WSDOT, there are a lot of collisions at the intersections of state Highway 14 and 15th Street, and state Highway 14 and 32nd Street. Additionally, their designs limit freight and local traffic in an out of the city and the Port of Camas-Washougal.

For example, drivers leaving Washougal from southbound 32nd Street can’t turn left onto eastbound state Highway 14. Port of Camas-Washougal tenants can’t turn left onto westbound state Highway 14, instead having to go east onto city streets before getting back on the highway.

WSDOT wants to design the new intersections to balance the needs of freight, area residents and local businesses, but also the future growth plans of the city of Washougal. For the last couple of weeks WSDOT has been collecting public input on the project. It will continue to do so until Nov. 7,

With a project budget of $7.5 million, WSDOT has developed seven different possible scenarios involving multiple combinations of roundabout, signals, ramps and some safety improvements for the future intersections, which the agency has made available to the public during an open house and via its website. However, Greenwell emphasized the designs are not final products. Engineers will use the public’s input to modify the plan that will be publicly shared early next year.

Construction on the project is set to begin in the spring of 2019.