The Yelm City Council discussed whether they wanted to take on the repairs needed to reopen Algiers Road in Yelm during its first study session of the new year on Jan. 3.
Algiers Road, which was closed on Dec. 10, provided access to five lots and is 780 feet of road, according to the city.
Cody Colt, the director of Yelm Public Works, said during the study session that Algiers Road initially closed because it did not meet city requirements that allow emergency vehicles to safely use privately owned roads.
After the road was developed, a BOA, which is similar to a homeowners association, was created so the businesses would maintain the road.
“The agreement was that the road would be maintained, provide access to fire and utility vehicles. The fact that it was open to the public was a benefit, but it wasn’t something they were required to do, but they had to maintain access for emergency services and utilities,” Colt said. “Now the road was closed, they didn’t want to have public access but there’s still access for emergency vehicles.”
Colt said there’s a breakaway chain on one side of the road closure and the other features a lock.
“Our code requires private roads to have emergency vehicle access. Any time you can get more ways to get an emergency vehicle somewhere, it’s a benefit,” Colt said. “Specifically for those roads, they’ve resuscitated people in those fields. Having that access just proves there is a reason to have that emergency access, but it’s also our code.”
The estimated cost for the city to repair Algiers Road would total $1.5 million, which is based on spending for the Mosman project, Colt said.
“For 780 feet and a $1.5 million estimate, no. I’ll make it clear, I’m against even considering accepting it,” councilmember Brian Hess said. “They need to bring it up to standards because even in their DOA, I bet if we dig down in their DOA, they will have failed at maintaining what they agreed to on their DOA. That’s not good use of public funds.”
Hess said coming up with the funds to repair the road would be a challenge for the city.
“Where are we going to take it out of the budget? Are we going to not purchase two new police cars? Are we not going to hire a new police officer? Are we going to cut positions that were just brought on board? Where are we going to find this $1.5 million?” Hess asked.
Hess said he felt the repair of Algiers Road would be a “gift” from the city to the business owners in charge of maintaining the road.
Councilmember Joshua Crossman said the closure of Algiers Road has worsened traffic conditions for Yelm residents. He said repairing the road would benefit the community.
“We benefited the citizens of Yelm for having another side street to use to make public,” Crossman said. “Now we’ve jammed up Creek Street and we need more side streets to put cars on. We can’t have everyone jammed up on 507. Every little bit helps.”
When asked whether the cost of repairs benefit cutting something else out of the budget, Crossman said the street is valuable.
“This is a street that is used a lot by a lot of people that I didn’t even know was a private road,” Crossman said. “If I was a business owner there, it makes no sense for me to fix this up and let the public use it. It makes zero sense as a business owner.”
Councilmember James Blair, who feels the owners of the private street should take responsibility to repair the road, said that most of the Algiers Road usage is for the Yelm Post Office.
“The guy that owns the property with the post office doesn’t want to spend money. This isn’t our problem,” Blair said. “It’s going to remain closed until they decide they want to build something else in that area.”
For the full discussion, the City of Yelm has uploaded the meeting to its self-titled YouTube page.
