Oak Harbor has received grants to help cover the costs of two much-need street improvement projects.
The city obtained a grant from the state’s Arterial Preservation Program for West Whidbey Avenue between Southwest Jib Street and Oak Harbor Street, which Public Works Director Steve Schuller described as in “bad condition.”
The grant will provide $485,297 of the overall $570,938 estimated project costs.
Pavement on West Whidbey Avenue has degraded and needs an overlay. Schuller said utility funds will be used to replace an old water line underneath the road before the pavement overlay is done.
The second state grant is for significant improvements to Northeast Seventh Avenue. The street was listed as the city’s No. 1 priority in the 2016 20-year transportation comprehensive plan, and was a top priority in the city’s six-year transportation plan going back to at least 2009.
Eleven years ago, the city had a grant to do the project, but Native American remains were unearthed during a Pioneer Way project after the city ignored warnings from the state’s Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation. The high costs of dealing with the issue left the city without the matching funds for the grant, and plans for the road were canceled.
Due to nearby apartments, the street is popular with both pedestrians and bicyclists but has no sidewalk or bike path and lacks street lighting.
This state grant will fund $837,185 of the $2 million estimated total project costs for Northeast Seventh Avenue.
In addition to the state funding, the city also won a grant through the Island Regional Transportation Planning Organization, a group that receives federal dollars. Oak Harbor has received an additional $851,000 for improvements to Northeast Seventh Avenue. Local funds will cover the remaining costs.
“We have a wonderful problem to have,” Schuller said. “We have lots and lots of money.”
Part of the project will be to improve the existing two-lane road. In addition, a shared-use 10-foot by 12-foot path for bicyclists and pedestrians will be added to at least one side of the road.
Schuller, who has over 30 years of experience as a civil engineer, said governments can have difficulty committing money to long-term infrastructure maintenance that may only have an impact years in the future. He said transportation infrastructure is degrading across the nation.
Oak Harbor previously paid for most of its infrastructure through a gas tax, which over the last decade has become less and less of a funding source due to inflation, as well as cars having better gas mileage and the growing popularity of electric vehicles. The transportation benefit district was created in order to provide money for projects through a 0.2% sales tax, which Oak Harbor voters approved in 2019.
“That funding is used exclusively to preserve our transportation system,” Schuller explained.
It is possible that construction on Seventh Avenue could begin in 2023 but it may extend into 2024. Construction on West Whidbey Avenue is expected to take place in 2023.
