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KITTITAS COUNTY <br />DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS <br />PUBLIC WORKS — BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br />2023 STUDY SESSION STAFF REPORT <br />STUDY SESSION DATE: March 27, 2023 <br />TOPIC: Robbins Road and Sun East <br />ACTION REQUESTED: Direct Staff <br />LEAD STAFF: <br />Mark R. Cook <br />RECOMMENDATION: <br />Direct staff evaluate public access to the National Forest through the Sun East <br />community. <br />BRIEFING SUMMARY: <br />* Last fall, a group of Sun East residents contacted Public Works (PW) discussing a <br />pavement gap at the end of Robbins Road. <br />• Discussions are ongoing about public access at Lillard Hill. <br />• Recently, staff inquired about the possibility of improving Sun East access to the <br />National Forest. <br />BACKGROUND: <br />Currently, there is a gap in pavement from the end of Robbins Road turnaround to the <br />paved road limit on Robbins maintained by the Sun East Homeowners Association. <br />Initial discussions surround a road improvement district or upgrading the road section for <br />county dedication. <br />DISCUSSION: <br />PW has prepared a cost estimate to upgrade approximately one and one half miles of <br />Robbins Road bringing the new road section onto the county network. Our preliminary <br />cost estimate is approximately $422,000 (EXHIBIT 1). Owing to ongoing issues <br />associated with Wilson Creek Road and Lillard Hill public access, PW solicited a limited <br />number of Sun East community residents to gage reaction to accessing the National <br />Forest through Sun East public right of way. The proposal is to improve the first paved <br />section and then construct a county gravel road to the national. forest. This will allow <br />snowplowing for a large number of landowners who currently do not have this service. <br />PW has verified that developing Lillard Hill will not afford access to the national forest. <br />PW believes the two improvements (at county expense) will offset resident concerns <br />about public access. <br />Access to public lands is often discussed with resource agencies as county residents <br />increasingly are losing access to state and federal lands. Large portions of privately held <br />Page 1 of 4 <br />Public Works "Work Session Staff Report", 2023 <br />