Island County is preparing to reconstruct the intersection of Northeast Regatta Drive and West Crescent Harbor Road, on Oak Harbor’s east side.

The project’s main purpose is to improve safety at that intersection and at the intersection of West Crescent Harbor Road and North Torpedo Road, immediately to the east, the county said.

The Regatta-Crescent Harbor intersection has experienced 10 collisions in the past three years, making it one of the county’s most dangerous areas, the county said.

The reconstruction will add turn lanes for north- and southbound vehicles turning from Regatta Drive onto Crescent Harbor.

It will eliminate a dedicated, curved “slip lane” from northbound Regatta Drive onto eastbound Crescent Harbor. And it will lower the intersection about nine feet, providing a flat platform immediately west of the steep half-mile-long hill that currently peaks at the intersection.

That portion of the road often has to be closed during winter months because it’s so slippery.

The grade of Crescent Harbor between Regatta and Torpedo will be reduced, to cut turn speed and improve crossing-traffic safety at Torpedo.

A retaining wall will minimize the effects of the changes on adjacent properties. Shoulders will be added to Regatta, and new LED streetlights will be erected. A stormwater retention pond will be constructed to deal with water runoff.

The project, budgeted at $1.3 million, is slated to start in the summer of 2017.

The area will be closed for three to four months, though detours will be provided, said Spencer Keane, a county project engineer.

At an open house Feb. 25 to discuss the project, “some people were concerned there would be an inconvenience,” said Keane.

“But there will definitely be ways around” the area, he pledged.

Construction will largely be limited to the right of way but will also impinge on some non-residential property adjacent to the Regatta-Crescent Harbor intersection.

Send questions to Keane at 360-678-7953 or s.keane@co.island.wa.us.