Traffic is important to business owners and to the coffers of cities. Be careful of what you wish for.

I had the original bypass idea shown to me numerous times by an engineer who was involved in it. A bridge where the Guesthouse Inn is, down State Street, travel via the Industrial Route, a bridge across to the area south of the Hoquiam City Hall and then onto Paulson Rd and the bypass to 101.

I have heard of others plans but this was the plan during the logging years and the reason for Lundgren bypass.

It's always entertaining to examine the results of a good publicity campaign.

The historic preservation ordinances had been under consideration for more than a decade. Along comes John Yonich, and then the Metke family, plus a little bluster from Chester Trabucco, all opining how the potential tax breaks might assist their efforts, and--viola--there is a reason to finally pass the ordinance. But, just for laughs, let's give Our Aberdeen credit for that one.

The waterfront consensus is nothing new or exciting--it's really more a matter of city hall never having listened to the consensus in the past. But, again for laughs, let's give Our Aberdeen credit for that one too. By the way, if the city council and planning commission now hear the consensus, why the heck have they not declared a moratorium on waterfront development until a plan can be implemented to guide future development? Let's get serious guys and gals.

The Market Street bypass is a red herring, or pie in the sky, take your pick. It was never in the DOT study, is not on DOT's agenda, would require a prohibitively expensive total rebuild of a mile or more of Market Street, has difficult connection points at either end, and was tabled several months back--right after it was first raised as a controversy point by the instigator of Our Aberdeen. Not that the idea doesn't have some appeal, but no comment has been heard from the businesses and residences that would be adversely impacted, and, frankly, we have far greater needs for the limited transportation bucks we are likely to receive--like new bridges, maybe.

I can't help but notice that cities like Sequim, Chehalis/Centralia, North Bend, Cle Elum, Mt. Vernon, and others are doing quite well without a highway running through their downtown cores.

I've mentioned several times in other threads that having a parking area for RVs and other vehicles, an RV dump and water refill station, a visitor kiosk, and restrooms will probably do more to get people to stop than trying to get them to pull over and park with the current set-up. If you added in a trolley that circled from the parking areas to downtown every 15 minutes or so, I would bet a lot of people would take advantage of that. Of course, than we need to have the shops, restaurants, and other venues/activities to get them to hang around, spend money, and want to return.

Is it a risk? Sure. But the current set-up isn't working. If we want to draw more people to our area to enjoy the beaches, hiking, etc., we do need to provide a way for them to get to those locations easier. And I think those changes would make things more pleasant for local residents as well.

I could be wrong but I'm betting these changes will never happen in our lifetimes anyway so we'll never know.

It won't. They don't build new roads in rural areas anymore. They just put a skinny little overlays or a chip seals to make the old roads look like something has been done.

Business people like traffic density and parking availability. Tourists walking around is fine but volume requires traffic density and parking. Take any successful store and put it on Market St. and you will see what I mean.

Whatshisname robbed banks because "that's where the money is". I go to Market Street because:

A. Sometimes, I can get through town more quickly, and
B. That's where the particular business I frequent happens to be, ie HomeTown Feed (of course, now I find myself at Levee St. Feed Store all the time), CRAP, A Classic Cut (for a massage from my sister), TwinStar Credit Union, The Eagles, etc.

There are businesses who depend on traffic and "spur of the moment" drop ins, but many who merely need to be in business. For example, while we go to Marshall's often for certain pet or plant supplies, we frequently head all the way out to Cedar Falls. It is about as out of the way as you can get.

I agree the Market Street by-pass would be pie-in-the-sky, but I think it would help businesses on Wishkah AND on Market.

Another way of looking at it is "outta sight, outta mind". Advertising costs bundles. Visibility of your business and your sign's readerboard are so huge there simply is no alternative. I talked to Mike from Mike's Meat before he moved. I told him that he would not believe the change in his business with a good location and good parking. His success blew him away and it was almost immediate.

The steady customers will always come in. I go to most of the same places on Market St. that you do. Drop in's account for more than you give credit. I have no idea of any other businesses on that street though because I travel the length of it so seldom.

None of this will happen. BandAids are all our roads get for a very long time.

Scroll through the yahoo group postings you have linked to. Notice that 90% of the posts are mere meeting announcements-- either repeat announcements or announcements about groups other than Our Aberdeen. Not much else going on, and only a small handful of 320 alleged members participating in anything. See committees merging or talking about disbanding. Listen to Mike D (wasn't he a Beastie Boy in a prior career?) slamming a couple of prominent individuals who dared to disagree with him. Notice how the decades old Aberdeen Revitalization Movement was first the target of a failed hostile takeover, then briefly brought into the fold, then relegated to the role of wicked step-sister. And so on...

Have you heard about any of this in the daily rag?
if you went to any of the large group meetings, were they as well attended or smooth and effective as was depicted in the daily rag? Did you know about the early meetings at Mike D's house where the daily rag publisher promised the moon?

C'est la vie

Just curious, who be Mike D?

The man who would be king.

Mike Dickerson. He has played a lead role in the 'Our Aberdeen' movement.