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Politics & Government

Tillicum Residents Balk At Camp Murray's Gate Proposal

Plans to relocate the National Guard's main entrance to Portland Avenue and Berkeley Street drew stiff criticism at two public meetings in Lakewood.

Lakewood city officials did their best Tuesday to sell Tillicum residents on Camp Murray’s plan to move its gate from Union Avenue further north on Berkeley Street to Portland Avenue.

But after four hours of back-to-back meetings at City Hall and the Tillicum Community Center, community members remained fearful that existing traffic congestion at Interstate 5 and Union Avenue—the gate’s current location—would simply shift to the East Point neighborhood.

The city rejected the National Guard’s gate-moving plan last year but took another look several months ago when Camp Murray offered to make $1.2 million in road and infrastructure improvements along Portland Avenue.

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Camp Murray has proposed building a roundabout at Berkeley and Boundary streets, where the new main gate would be situated. Some residents said there would be less traffic impact on the community if the gate was moved to Grant Avenue instead.

Dave Bugher, Lakewood’s assistant city manager and community development director, promised to raise the suggestion with camp officials but noted that the idea had been rejected last year.

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“Based upon what we’re hearing from Camp Murray to date, Grant Avenue is not an option," he said. "And, frankly, based upon the traffic modeling, even if you did go down Grant Avenue, it really doesn’t change anything.”

Bugher told both audiences that Portland Avenue is not an ideal solution to Tillicum’s traffic woes. It is, however, the most practical and cost-efficient one to date, he added.

What is needed, Bugher said, is a new-and-improved I-5 overpass at Berkeley Street and the Cross Base interchange at Thorne Lane. The former is estimated to cost between $45 million and $72 million, while the latter could run as much as $300 million. Neither project is slated for funding.

“Realistically, you’re not going to see a new interchange at Berkeley for at least 10 years,” he said.

Tuesday’s City Hall session was geared toward members of the citizen Transportation Advisory Committee, Redevelopment Advisory Board and Planning Advisory Board.

Bugher told those groups that Camp Murray already has assurance of combined state and federal funding for the gate-relocation project.  But it needs to act quickly, he added, or possibly forfeit the money to competing National Guard units.

Jon Pascal, a traffic engineer with Transpogroup, a private consulting firm hired by Camp Murray to conduct the traffic study, said I-5 became “a parking lot” when troops returned home in September.

“We saw the biggest increase in traffic in Tillicum at that time,” he added.

Pascal showed animated simulations of traffic movement as it occurs now in front of Camp Murray compared to what it would look like if the main gate was moved to Portland Avenue.

“Eliminating the existing gate allows the existing intersection to operate more efficiently as well as improve left turns onto Union Avenue,”  he said. “We’d also be improving a section of road that goes across the railroad tracks."

Pascal said one unexpected finding was that mid-day traffic volume on Berkeley Street will not change significantly, regardless of where Camp Murray's gate ends up.

“If you look at the Union and Berkeley interchange, the signals take about 3-1/2 minutes to cycle,” he said.  “This signal is not able to accommodate all of the traffic today.”

Moving the gate to Portland Avenue would add about 900 vehicles a day on that street, Pascal said.

“Will it result in an incredible amount of delay? No,” he said. “Will it mean more time at intersections? Yes."

Bugher said the camp's existing gate was built around 1957 under vastly different traffic conditions.

“We know Portland Avenue is not preferred by the Tillicum community,” he said. “But going from a four-point to a three-point intersection (at Union), might move traffic faster.

“This is the best we can come up with right now unless somebody can show us a better plan.”

If Camp Murray’s proposal is adopted, a section of Portland Avenue will be widened. The city also will need to replace existing sidewalks.

Of particular concern to city officials and residents alike is the parking situation on Portland Avenue. Houses on that street were built many years ago and did not have adequate parking.

“We’re trying to address that,” Bugher said.

To discourage overuse of Portland Avenue, raised crosswalks similar to speed bumps would be added, along with a new school zone from Lake Street to Commercial Avenue.

In addition, heavy truck traffic would be prohibited on Portland Avenue, although the new roundabout would accommodate RVs and towed boats.

“We heard from community the desire to keep heavy truck traffic off the streets,” Bugher said. “We told Camp Murray that that traffic will have to go through the existing gate.”

To further reduce traffic along Portland Avenue, the National Guard has proposed relocating some employees to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, including Camp Murray's combined support maintenance shop and other support units—or about 475 personnel.

That will result in a substantial reduction in number of people utilizing Camp Murray,” Bugher told both audiences.

Another benefit of moving the gate is that it will allow the city to install dual left-turn lanes onto I-5 and possibly add an eastbound lane to help flush the intersection faster.

“These are some of the proposals that have been submitted and agreed to by Camp Murray,” Bugher said.

One audience member at the Tillicum meeting questioned why the National Guard simply can’t pack up and move onto neighboring JBLM land. Bugher said JBLM likely would not support that idea because the federal military and state National Guard have different missions.

“There are times when Camp Murray wants to make sure they have full access to their facility,” he added. "Camp Murray does not wish to be beholden to JBLM for access.”

Janet O’Brien, who lives off North Thorne Lane, said she was surprised there are not provisions for improving her street.

“There will be far more traffic coming off Exit 123 onto to Thorne Lane and Portland (under the current proposal),” she said.  “I think you're going to create more traffic that will come down Portland onto Thorne Lane.

“That road is already inadequate the way it is now," she said. "You better ask for enough money to improve Thorne Lane, too.”

Bugher said Camp Murray could get a permit to start the project within six months of completing environmental studies. On the other hand, if community opposition mounts or other concerns surface, Bugher said Lakewood ultimately could block the project by refusing to issue a street-opening permit.

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