Senator planning highway council

Spurred by the state Department of Transportation's planned roundabout on state Route 169, Sen. Pam Roach has announced she is creating the Plateau Transportation Working Group, a citizens organization whose purpose is to interact with the state Department of Transportation on issues impacting highways in the Enumclaw area.

Everyone is invited to attend and participate, Roach said.

“DOT has been making decisions without consulting the Plateau community, and we don't want that to happen again,” Roach said.

Roach said the working group's first meeting will take place at 7 p.m. May 31 at at the Enumclaw Public Library, 1700 First St. The second meeting will take place June 7, also beginning at 7 p.m. at the library.

The May 31 meeting will focus on state Route 410. The June 7 meeting will concentrate on state routes 164 and 169.

Roach said she plans for the working group to conduct meetings quarterly or as needed after the initial meetings to discuss possible solutions to problems related to the three highways that impact the Enumclaw area the most. The 31st District senator said DOT officials will be there.

“DOT will present its studies and possible solutions. The public will have time for input,” Roach said.

“We want the DOT to know our priorities, just as we want to know theirs. From the citizens' perspective, they should be the same. Enumclaw is the confluence of three state highways. The transportation working group will learn about DOT's plans for our area and evaluate the department's plans before they are put in place. What we don't want is a situation where DOT dictates to us how it wants to spend our tax money,” Roach said.

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