Town of Coupeville is hoping to break ground this summer on a road and utility project on Madrona Way.
Town Council approved a budget and timeline for the project Tuesday with hopes of starting phase one of the project June 7.
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 down toward Captain Whidbey Inn.
“It’s about six months of disruption,” said Mayor Nancy Conard. “Local people will still be able to get into their driveways.”
However, there will be times when a resident’s driveway may be blocked for several hours.
Conard said plenty of notice will be given during those times.
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.
Conard said the town will post signs that also inform visitors that businesses in the area are still open during the construction.
The town applied for grant and loan funding from the USDA in the hope of funding the $1.12 million utility portion of the project.
If not, the town has already made preliminary contact with local banks and has options for long-term funding, Conard said.
There is also about $800,000 in the water and sewer capital fund that can be used.
The town also has about $790,000 in funds from selling easement rights to its Keystone Hill property, but Conard said the town would prefer to use those funds on some other projects.
“We are currently developing various scenarios for financing and will have a more definitive proposal when we hear from USDA and open the bids,” she said.
The road portion of the project is anticipated to cost roughly $732,000. More than $630,000 of that is already covered by a grant from the state Department of Transportation and $65,000 from the Transportation Improvement Board. The town will be responsible for about $33,000 of the road phase of the project.
“We will be going out to bid as soon as possible after the final bid documents are approved by all the funding agencies,” Conard said.
With an anticipated start date of June 7 for the utility portion, town officials hope it will be completed by Sept. 15. The road portion of the project will overlap with an Aug. 1 start date and completion by Oct. 1.
Town staff has been working on the Madrona Way project for several years. There are many working parts to the project, including acquiring small parcels of property for right-of-way and assessing the area’s archeological integrity.
Also Tuesday night, the council approved an agreement with Equinox Research and Consulting International, Inc. to monitor the project after shell midden deposits were found near the intersection of Sherman Road and Madrona.
Midden is a mound or deposit containing shells, animal bones and other refuse that indicates the site of a human settlement.
Conard said the state Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation recommended the town monitor construction near the area and that she anticipated it would also be a condition of the town’s shoreline development permit.
The cost of that contract is about $8,200.
