Election win will propel street improvements in Gig Harbor

Voter approval of Proposition 1, a sales tax increase for traffic improvements, means the City of Gig Harbor will be able to move forward with a number of planned street projects, Mayor Kit Kuhn said last week.

Exactly which projects will depend on the incoming council, Kuhn said.

“Come the first of the year, we will sit down with the new council and identify where we feel there is the greatest need,” the mayor said.

The city staff has already identified a wish list of top projects, outlined the the budget presented to the city council on Nov. 14. They include these:

▪ Stinson/Harborview intersection improvements, including right-of-way acquisition, $1.33 million.

▪ Stinson Avenue repaving, Grandview to Rosedale, $750,000.

▪ Stinson/Rosedale roundabout, $750,000

▪ 38th Avenue improvements between Briarwood Lane and the city limits, including bike lanes, sidewalks, planter strip and pedestrian lighting.

As voters across the state turned sour on both taxes and transportation during the Nov. 5 election, Gig Harbor voters went against the flow, approving Prop 1 by a more than 56 percent majority.

The measure authorized the Gig Harbor Transportation Benefit District to levy a two-tenths of a cent tax on retail sales within the city. That would raise the city’s sales tax from 8.5 percent to 8.7 percent.

“I was very impressed and very proud that Gig Harbor voters bucked the trend,” Kuhn said. He noted that the city’s sales tax is still “among the lowest in the Puget Sound region.”

The city will not see any new money from the Prop. 1 sales tax until April or May, Kuhn said, but it will have one effect right away — it will help the city qualify for matching grants.

Kuhn said the city was expecting to learn this week whether it had won grants for state matching funds for two of the projects, the Harborview-Stinson intersection and the Rosedale roundabout.

Other street projects in the pipeline, according to the city budget, include flashing crosswalk beacons at 50th Street Court to improve access to Veteran’s Memorial Park, and modification of Judson Street downtown to one-way between Stanich Lane and Soundview Drive.

Also on the list are improvements along portions of Prentice Avenue and Fennimore Street, portions of Burnham Drive between Harborview and Harbor Hill Drive, and Harborview Drive between Austin Street and Harbor Hill Drive.