Permanent traffic calming on this Lacey street fails in neighborhood vote
An effort to permanently slow traffic on Lacey’s Lebanon Street has failed after property owners on the street did not reach the super-majority approval needed to take that next step.
The three-member city Transportation Committee made up of Lacey City Council members Malcolm Miller, Michael Steadman and Robin Vazquez learned earlier this month that property owners voted down the effort, 54 percent to 46 percent. Those in support of permanently slowing traffic needed to capture 60 percent of the vote for it to advance.
Concerns about traffic and speeding on Lebanon Street were first raised by residents about four years ago, and then were amplified when Lebanon Street was extended to Pacific Avenue as part of redevelopment in the area, which included the city’s replica train depot.
Miller said residents felt like the street was being treated as a drag strip.
Following the complaints, the city undertook speed and traffic studies, installed a temporary traffic calming device and finally put it to a vote. The first vote in October had a poor turnout, so the city tried again in January and got the turnout it needed to make the vote official, Transportation Manager Martin Hoppe said.
The city says it plans to remove the traffic calming device. A check of the street on Thursday showed it was still in place.
“I am disappointed that my neighbors didn’t think of this as a safety issue,” said Lebanon Street resident Sylvia Dedrich. “Speeding traffic and volume, along with no sidewalks, was my biggest concern. Not knowing what their reasoning was, I can only assume that the cost was an issue.”
If the traffic calming had been made permanent on the street, property owners and the city would have split the cost of that work. Property owners faced an assessment of about $200, Hoppe said.
Council members Steadman and Miller believe the city has done enough. “It was a fair process,” Steadman said.
Miller said the city listened and was willing to make sure residents’ needs were addressed.
“I hope the residents of that street feel that way,” he said.
This story was originally published February 18, 2022 at 5:45 AM.
