City of Port Townsend
Discovery Road
Rainier St to McClellan St
TIB Award Amount
$2,629,618
Region: Northwest   |   Legislative District: 24   |   Length: 0.61 mi. FY 2022 Urban Arterial Program (UAP)

Existing Conditions

Discovery Road is structurally and functionally obsolete. As such, it is the City’s No. 1 TIP priority. As the primary arterial alternative to SR 20 for city access, it connects nearly every neighborhood and is the best route to several key destinations, including; Fort Worden State Park, schools, golf course, Jefferson County Fairgrounds, police department, and YMCA. Traffic volumes increased 70% in the last 15 years and will continue to increase due to 1) the TIB-funded Rainier Street connection to SR 20, and 2) planned WSDOT improvements to the Mill Road Intersection. Discovery Road also serves commercial and high-density residential zoning areas. It is an old territorial roadway, approximately 20' wide with no shoulders. The roadway was not constructed with proper base and thin chip-seal surfacing is in poor condition. With no shoulders, there are frequent conflicts between vehicles and peds/bikes with no viable parallel routes for non-motorized use. The drainage infrastructure is insufficient to non-existent, which adds water to the subgrade and contributes to roadway failure.

Project Funding

  TIB Funds Local Funds Total Costs
Design 361,293 355,020 716,313
Right of Way 40,350 39,650 80,000
Construction 2,227,975 2,189,290 4,417,265
Project Totals $2,629,618 $2,583,960 $5,213,578

Local Match

TIB Participation Local Match Minimum Local Match
50.4% 49.6% 15%

Summary of Improvements

  • Improves safety;
  • Extends improvements;
  • Removes ADA barriers

Description of Improvements

The project limits are from TIB funded Rainier Street to McClellan Street, west of the new Salish Elementary School. This project reconstructs the roadway and adds curbs, enhanced crosswalks, stormwater drainage and treatment, lighting, and intersection improvements. On the north side of Discovery Road, the project will provide sidewalk and curb ramps. The south side will include pedestrian and bicycle facilities as funded in part by a 2019-21 Pedestrian & Bicycle Safety Program Grant. The City received a Ped/Bike Grant and WSDOT STP funds to construct a sidewalk and separated bike facility on the south side of Discovery Road to improve non-motorized safety, but these funds do not address the failing roadway. This UAP grant presents a unique and timely opportunity to use these secured funds as a match and leverage project investments to add much needed roadway improvements to create a complete street project. The full road buildout provides a complete street capable of handling the vehicle, non-motorize, transit, and freight needs of the corridor. Ped/bike safety in the corridor is vital given the Salish Coast Elementary School, school bus traffic, and children who walk and bike to school. The project completes a ped/bike gap between sidewalk/cycletrack facilities on Rainier Street to the west and on Discovery Road to the east at Salish Coast Elementary. Roadway reconstruction also allows minor roadway realignment to avoid new right of way.