This week, a major infrastructure project six years in the making will finally break ground in Langley.

An official groundbreaking for the Langley Infrastructure Project, or LIP, is planned for 3 p.m. this Thursday, April 10 on the corner of Sixth Street and Park Avenue. The city’s Public Works department will be closing the roadway and detouring traffic.

The LIP, which has a $9 million contract, has seven different funding sources, including a $4 million bond approved by voters in 2019 and a $3 million grant from Island County.

As Public Works Director Randi Perry explained to the city council Monday night, the presence of some feathery friends has accelerated the project’s timeline. Originally, the project had two phases, broken into the eastern side projects and western side projects. An eagle’s nest was discovered, which means multiple crews will now work on both sides of town simultaneously.

Construction is expected to wrap up by the end of this year, as 14 to 15 months of work is now being consolidated into just nine months. Earthwork Solutions, the bidder selected for the project, has 390 working days per the contract to complete the work.

“We have to be out of the east end of Fourth Street and Sixth Street before January,” Perry said. “So we have from August to January to be able to do the work in that location, based on the eagle’s nest.”

Perry explained in an email that this first month of work will include mobilization, tree and drainage protection measures will be placed, surveying will occur throughout town and the contractor will be potholing for some utilities. Asphalt will be planed on Edgecliff Drive, Furman Avenue, Decker Avenue, Sixth Street, Island View Lane and Al Anderson Avenue. Some trench cuts will be made in these locations in preparation to install utilities. By the end of the month the contractor plans to install some sewer pipe on Edgecliff Drive and some water line on Sixth Street.

Information on the LIP is included in citizens’ utility bills.