The Town of Coupeville will not break ground on its Madrona Way road and utility project this week as originally planned.

Mayor Nancy Conard said the project is about a week behind schedule.

Part of the hold up is that the town only closed bids for the construction contract Monday afternoon and the town council will have to approve the winning bid.

The town advertised it was seeking bids for three weeks and received roughly a half dozen interested construction companies. Now town staff is reviewing the several lowest bids, Conard said.

Because the bids were not ready by Tuesday’s council meeting, Conard said officials were aiming to hold a special meeting Thursday or Friday to approve a bid.

The town is also still trying to secure additional funding for the project with loans through USDA.

“There’s still hoops we have to jump through,” she said. “It’s a very competitive rate, so we’re happy with that.”

Part of those steps included the council approving resolutions to accept the loans, which was done Tuesday evening.

Town staff doesn’t have an exact start date scheduled for the project because it depends on whichever bid is awarded. Conard said she’s hoping it will begin within 10 days to two weeks.

Residents living on Madrona Way will be impacted by the project, which is being completed primarily from Broadway to Vine streets with some water line extension going toward Captain Whidbey Inn.

Residents in the area can anticipate about six months of disruption, according to town staff.

The nearly $2-million project has been years in the making and was broken into two phases, which include installation of new water and sewer mains and construction of a sewer lift station.

Phase two includes road reconstruction, installation of a storm drain system and bioswales, and installation of a pedestrian path.

Drivers in the area will experience detours onto Vine and Sherman roads during the project.