HomeMy WebLinkAbout101926 - Public Comment Andy Cooper Road Pubs
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Jefferson County Commissioners October 19, 2026 L61 1c4G
1820 Jefferson Street
Port Townsend, Washington 98368
This letter is to express our discouragement, frustration, and concern regarding
the condition of the road on which we live and how it is being used.
We reside on Andy Cooper Road in Paradise Bay with two other adjacent family
homes. Andy Cooper Road is one lane designated primitive road and for the
most part unpaved. We have experienced the decline of this road in our micro
neighbor to an increased degree in recent years. We will give you some
background lowlights as to what is happening.
The road itself has not been maintained for years. When we first moved here in
1980, the county graded the road from top to bottom at least once a year.
Several years later the county opted to chip-seal the road from Paradise Bay
Road to just past where the third home is located. This chip-seal has not been
replaced or maintained by the county. There are virtually no shoulders on this
road and sight distance can be extremely limited. Passing another vehicle is not
easy and is dangerous at times. Huge potholes and dangerous ruts have
developed. seldom, if ever, during a season is the roadside brushed or tree
overhangs managed. Therefore, we have made a case to show that there is no
concern by the county for routine maintenance of this road.
Secondly, the road has become a dumping ground for garbage, construction
debris, and household waste. Discarded items have included furniture, old
carpeting, mattresses, copious quantities of tar paper, appliances, food
scraps, and yard waste. The community of Paradise Bay and others it appears,
think it is just a dumping ground for their unwanted items and yard refuge. There
has been evidence of drug use, selling of drugs, and nefarious individuals with
no obvious reason to be present on this road. My husband and I witnessed what
we believe was a drug transaction taking place above the third home on this
road. Drug paraphernalia has been seen on the roadside and once a pouch with
syringes, drug residue, etc., was found on the road just down from our driveway.
We turned it over to the authorities for disposal. Individuals have been seen
camping along the road. This brings a fear of fire to our neighborhood. We have
in addition seen evidence of deer possibly being poached more than once. We
have photos to support many of these allegations. However, we feel most of
these things can be managed with a little education, signage, or with ticketing
and/or fines implemented bythe county. Closing the road to traffic through this
area would also benefit those of us who live here. No one else really needs to
use this road.
Our third concern is the road's overall safety. Since the Highway 104
roundabouts were installed, drivers trying to reach the Paradise Bay
roundabout during bridge openings have increasingly used Andy Cooper Road
as a shortcut. They speed downhill on this primitive, one-lane, unmaintained
road as though it were a highway. On several occasions, speeding vehicles have
nearly struck me as I turned into our driveway. Just a few weeks ago, our
daughter was nearly hit by one such vehicle. When she confronted the driver at
the bottom of the driveway, he ignored her and sped away. Logging at the upper
end of the road creates another safety hazard. We believe the logging company
should be using the paved Teal Lake Road, rather than Andy Cooper Road, to
transport its equipment. We have witnessed the company using Andy Cooper
Road for this purpose.
We no longer feel safe using this road as a means of getting to our homes,
walking for exercise, or walking our dogs. We would like to offer some
suggestions to improve the conditions for those of us that live on this county
road.
We would like to see this road receive the same considerations for
maintenance and safety as other roads in the county.
We are bringing practical solutions for consideration.
• Improve road surface by widening shoulders, adding fog lines, and adding
a centerline.
• Monitor and ticket highspeed drivers, illegal dumping, and drug deals.
• Develop a maintenance schedule to address road surface, vegetation,
and accumulated debris. This would include yearly grading, pothole fills,
a regular cleanup of illegally dumped trash, drug paraphernalia, yard
waste, appliances, furniture etc...
• Logging companies should be required to maintain and clean up their
access points regularly.
• Require logging companies to use paved Teal Lake Road for movement of
equipment or shipping out logs. This would help preserve the quality of
the road, requiring less pothole fills, repair, etc...along with addressing
the safety issue for passing vehicles on a narrow road.
• If nothing else, close Andy Cooper Road from the Paradise Bay
"wellhouse" road to Teal Lake Road to through traffic except for
emergency vehicles. This would remove the continued problems
addressed throughout this letter.
In summary, this road, used by long-term homeowners and taxpayers,
should be given the same considerations as other roads within the county.
The time to reevaluate Andy Cooper Road is now after seeing a major impact
in traffic, road deterioration, safety incidents, drug deals, and debris
accumulation.This has especially escalated and become more of a concern
after the installation of the new roundabout at Paradise Bay Road which has
caused an influx of non-neighborhood traffic, creating these maintenance
and safety concerns.
Bruce and Janice Crittenden Kevin and Melissa Tenny
1041 Andy Cooper Road 881 Andy Cooper Road
Port Ludlow, Washington 98365 Port Ludlow, Washington 98365