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Home My WebLink About030123 RE_ _EXTERNAL_ WSDOT Hood Canal Bridge Closures________________________________ ALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them. ________________________________ Diana, Thank you for reaching about the Hood Canal Bridge (HCB) closures this summer. Anytime a road is closed for construction it’s a huge inconvenience and impacts the community and commerce. The repair to the HCB centerlocks is critical to keep this vital transportation link in a state of good repair, so we are asking for everyone’s help to stay informed, stay engaged and plan ahead to make this go as smoothly as possible. We have not selected specific dates for the weekend closures. The late-July through late-August timeframe is the most likely at this point in our planning. We are planning for openings to allow traffic to cross the bridge at specific times during the weekend closures, perhaps twice per weekend or more. Those details have not been sorted out yet but will be soon. To your point about making a final decision, we plan to finalize the schedule later this month. There are numerous competing interests that we are factoring into that decision. I would add that adverse weather could affect the schedule, but the August timeframe is generally reliable from a weather standpoint. We will be publishing new information on our websites as it takes shape. To stay up to date on the latest information, please follow our online open house <https://engage.wsdot.wa.gov/north-olympic-p eninsula-2023-construction/construction-projects-and-expected-delays/> . It has information and links to projects in the area including HCB, ways to sign up for updates, and an e-mail address to ask us questions. Thank you for reaching out and please feel free to contact me if you need additional information. Regards, Steve Steve Roark, PE Region Administrator WSDOT Olympic Region 7407 31st Ave NE Lacey, WA 98516 (360) 357-2658 From: Diana Smeland <DSmeland@portludlowassociates.com> Sent: Friday, February 24, 2023 3:10 PM To: jeffbocc@co.jefferson.wa.us; Roark, Steve <RoarkS@wsdot.wa.gov> Subject: [EXTERNAL] WSDOT Hood Canal Bridge Closures WARNING: This email originated from outside of WSDOT. Please use caution with links and attachments. We are writing to express concerns about the planned closure Hood Canal Bridge currently scheduled for four weekends starting July 28. First, we want to acknowledge our understanding for the need to perform the required maintenance and repair on the bridge as it is vital infrastructure to our communities. As you are aware, summer is one of the busiest times of the year for tourism, with many visitors coming from all over the world to enjoy the respite our tranquil locations provide, and partake in longtime attractions and events (Centrum, Wooden Boat Festival, Lavender Festival, etc.). The closure of Hood Canal Bridge will cause significant disruption to the travel plans of these visitors, who may be unable to reach their intended destinations or may face long detours and delays. We promote the fact that Port Ludlow is the gateway to the Olympic Peninsula from the Hood Canal Bridge and our close proximity to the Seattle metro area. As such, we are likely the business to be most affected by this closure and road construction work. These disruptions have already had negative impacts on our business. Wedding and their accompanying activities and room bookings are a lucrative part of our summer business and booked years in advance. We have already lost one client due to this closure being rescheduled from the originally proposed May dates and more may follow. Our golf course patronage is dependent on good weather. Real estate sales rely on potential buyers visiting our location and a buyer’s perception that Port Ludlow is a difficult destination to reach may drastically skew their decision to make the Olympic Peninsula/Jefferson County their home. There will also be far reaching consequences such as reduced visitor numbers, less lodging tax funding as July and August are the best months, lower revenues for many local businesses, and a damaged reputation of the Olympic Peninsula as a desirable tourist destination for years to come. By only closing on weekends, you are disproportionately affecting tourism industry businesses as well as their employees for the benefit of weekday commuters who may have the ability to use vacation time, shift schedules to work remotely or stay at local accommodations for the short duration of the closure. There is a considerable percent of our local workforce that lives across the Hood Canal Bridge in Kitsap County. These travelers are not all solely Monday-Friday commuters. Out of the 100 employees on staff, 21% live in Kitsap, and more during our summer months. While it’s true tourists may have more flexibility in when they can travel or extend their trips to cover the entire weekend, our businesses rely on having adequate staffing to support the influx. In an already challenging labor market, this will cause additional issues for our employees and company and possibly result in loss of staff. We are hoping you will consider exploring some alternative options that may allow for the maintenance work to be carried out with less disruption to the tourism industry by spreading out the burden across all days of the week. A suggestion we offer is work two weekends (Friday at 11-Monday at 4) and then two sets of weekdays (Sunday nights through Wednesday mornings) which would only impact two week-days. We believe local hotels on both sides of the bridge would be agreeable to offering discounts for commuters on those days as occupancy is traditionally lower mid-week. Ultimately, we understand that this is important work that needs to be done. We encourage you to consider all the feedback provided. Our request is that a swift final decision on dates is made so we can communicate with our already scheduled guests, employees and other community stakeholders and begin mitigation plans for limiting disruptions from this work. Sincerely Diana Diana Smeland President The Resort at Port Ludlow Westharbor Homes Olympic Water & Sewer Port Ludlow Associates, LLC 70 Breaker Lane Port Ludlow WA 98365 direct: 360.437.8342 office: 360.437.2101 <https://portludlowresort.com/?utm_source=signature&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dsmeland> <https://westharborhomes.com/?utm_source=signature&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dsmeland> <https://www.facebook.com/portludlow> <https://www.instagram.com/theresortatportludlow/> <https://www.linkedin.com/company/resort-at-port-ludlow> <https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g 58685-d268335-Reviews-The_Resort_at_Port_Ludlow-Port_Ludlow_Washington.html> <https://www.yelp.com/biz/fireside-restaurant-port-ludlow> <https://www.facebook.com/westharborhomes> <https://www.instagram.com/westharborhomes> <https://www.linkedin.com/company/westharbor-homes> <https://www.houzz.com/pro/westharborhomes/westha rbor-homes>