By Dispatch Squatch in Klickitat County — 28 Mar 2026

🗣️ Neighborhood Pushback Leads to Lower Speed Limits - Klickitat BOCC 3/24

Klickitat County lowers speed limits on key rural roads following neighborhood input while grappling with a severe 911 dispatch staffing crunch. Plus, updates on infrastructure bids and delays to state building codes.

The audio edition of this episode is available here, or wherever you get your podcasts.

🏛 March 24, 2026 Meeting

The Body: Klickitat County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC)

The Bottom Line: Commissioners focused heavily on local infrastructure and safety, officially lowering speed limits on rural roads following neighborhood advocacy, while passing an expensive contract extension to patch ongoing staffing holes in the 911 dispatch center.

The Vibe: Pragmatic and operational. The board was receptive to community input regarding traffic safety, recognizing the tension between neighborhood livability and state highway constraints.

🚗 Public Works & Traffic Safety

Speed Limits Lowered: Following a public hearing, the Board approved an ordinance lowering the speed limits on Hill Road and Counts Road to 35 mph.
State Route 14 Tunnel Speeds: During discussion, commissioners and residents highlighted ongoing safety friction with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) regarding the Highway 142 trail and the SR 14 tunnel in Lyle, where vehicles exit the tunnel directly into a trailhead zone at 60 mph.
Bid Remands: Bids for the Klickitat County Fuel Station and Guardrail Upgrades (CRP 390) were officially opened and remanded back to Public Works Director Jeff Hunter for review and recommendation.
Bridge Maintenance Completed: The Board approved the final $20,370 pay estimate to Stateline, LLC for the Wood Gulch/Schrantz Road Bridge preventive maintenance project.

The speed limit reductions on Hill and Counts roads highlight a growing tension in rural county management: balancing the through-traffic demands of commuters with the safety concerns of growing residential neighborhoods. While the county can easily adjust local road speeds, the discussion surrounding the Lyle tunnel illustrates the structural hurdles local governments face when trying to mitigate hazards on state-controlled highways. The county is currently drafting a formal letter to WSDOT to advocate for speed reductions near these emerging pedestrian corridors, but state agencies historically move slowly on highway speed revisions.

🚨 Emergency Communications & Staffing

Contract Expansion: The Board approved a change order adding 1,733 hours to the county's traveling 911 dispatcher contract.
Medical Leave Coverage: This massive block of hours is required to cover ongoing, unexpected medical leaves within the local dispatch workforce.

The sheer volume of hours added to this contract underscores a severe and systemic vulnerability in rural emergency services. 911 dispatchers require highly specialized, legally mandated training, making them incredibly difficult to replace on short notice. When full-time staff take extended medical or administrative leave, counties are forced to rely on expensive traveling contractors. This creates a hidden budgetary friction point, as these emergency expenditures bypass standard annual budget forecasting to ensure that the 911 lines remain operational.

🏘️ Housing & Land Use

ADU Streamlining: The consent agenda included a request for a public meeting to discuss making Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) an outright permitted use.
Plat Approvals: The Board granted final approval for the Buffam short plat (SPL 2024-25).

By moving to make ADUs an outright permitted use, the Planning Department is aligning local code with an evidence-based housing strategy currently being heavily championed by the state. In 2023, the Washington State Legislature passed House Bill 1337, a sweeping reform designed to dismantle local barriers to ADU construction to combat the statewide housing emergency.

With the state Department of Commerce estimating that Washington needs 1 million new homes by 2044, housing economists point to ADUs as a proven tool to create "gentle density." By removing the land-use hearing barrier, the county is encouraging the development of naturally occurring affordable housing and multi-generational living spaces without requiring massive new subdivisions, expensive utility expansions, or drastic changes to neighborhood character.

⚠️ The 2024 State Building Code Delay

While the county works to streamline local ADU rules, a massive structural hurdle is looming at the state level. The implementation of the highly controversial 2024 Washington State Building, Energy, and Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) codes has been officially delayed until May 1, 2027.

These codes mandate stricter energy efficiency and fire-hardening standards, which carry distinct safety benefits, but local contractors warn will drastically inflate the cost of new home construction. The delay provides a temporary reprieve, but county officials are bracing for a severe impact on housing affordability once the mandates take effect.

🛠 Jargon Buster

CRP (County Road Project): A formal designation required by state law for any county public works project that alters the roadway, ensuring the project is tracked for specific funding and engineering standards.
Remand a Bid: A standard procedural step where commissioners officially open sealed bids from contractors, but instead of awarding the job on the spot, they hand the bids over ("remand") to the engineering staff to verify the math and ensure the contractor meets all legal requirements.
WUI (Wildland-Urban Interface): Zones where human development meets open wilderness, making these areas highly susceptible to catastrophic wildfires and subject to strict new state building regulations.

🔎 What Changed

Speed limits on Hill Road and Counts Road are officially reduced to 35 mph.
The Buffam short plat received final authorization.
A 14-item consent agenda cleared, granting a fee waiver for the White Salmon Library at the Dallesport Community Center and advancing liquid asphalt bids.

⚠ What Escalated

Dispatch Budgets: Emergency communication funds are under immediate strain due to the need to purchase 1,733 hours of contractor coverage for medical leaves.
Highway Friction: Frustration is mounting over WSDOT's 60 mph speed limits near pedestrian trailheads outside the SR 14 tunnel in Lyle.

🧭 What’s Next

March 26, 2026: Board Workshop to discuss Short-Term Rentals (STRs) and the software/bureaucratic costs of code compliance.
April 15, 2026: Childcare facility tour and roundtable at the Neal Early Learning Center in Boardman.
May 1, 2027: State-mandated implementation date for the 2024 Washington State Building/Energy Codes.

How to Join & Learn More Klickitat County Commissioners meet regularly on Tuesdays at the Klickitat County Services Building (115 West Court, Room 201, Goldendale, WA).

Attend Virtually: You can join meetings via Zoom (Meeting ID: 586 587 651) or by calling 253-215-8782.
Review the Docs: View official agendas and minutes on the Klickitat County Website - https://klickitatcounty.gov/643/Board-of-County-Commissioners