PORT TOWNSEND –– Jefferson County commissioners have unanimously agreed to award a $905,310 bid for rerouting part of Undie Road around a section with significant damage in West Jefferson County.
Interwest Construction Inc. of Burlington will start construction on the West End road project either Aug. 1 or 2 and should finish by the end of this construction season, Monte Reinders, Jefferson County Public Works Director, said Tuesday.
The goal is to finish the road before the rainy season hits in mid-November, he said.
The bid was awarded during the commissioners’ regular meeting Monday.
The 0.8-mile stretch of Undie Road on the north bank of the Bogachiel River south of Forks was severely damaged during fall and winter storms and is now reduced to one barely navigable lane.
Options debated
Several options have been discussed by commissioners since the damage occurred, including considering canceling the job and forcing the 13 people living beyond the damaged section of road to fend for themselves.
Reinders said people drive 40 to 50 trips across that stretch of road on any given day.
The current project is intended to create an alternate route using 1.3 miles of existing state Department of Natural Resources road and another 0.9 miles of steep terrain construction.
“We don’t have any other options,” he said.
According to the plan, an alternate route will be constructed that will follow existing Natural Resources roads for approximately 1.3 miles, at which point a new road will be constructed for approximately 0.9 miles and connect with Undie Road beyond the damaged area.
For the project, the county had to secure permits and property rights, a complicated and time-consuming process, Reinders said.
“We would have liked to start sooner, but it’s complicated going through the right of way and permitting process,” he said.
Needed permits
The project requires permits from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the state Department of Natural Resources and the Jefferson County Department of Community Development.
Commissioner Kathleen Kler said the county is still working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the project.
By the time the project is finished, between permits, acquisitions and construction, rerouting the road will cost approximately $1.3 million.
The county expects to pay DNR $205,000 for trust land reimbursement and for right of way, Kler said. The county will also pay $36,000 for land acquisition of a private parcel, she said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is expected to reimburse the county at least $200,000 for work on the road, after a declaration of emergency following the storms.
“It is a major commitment of the county for the West End citizens,” Kler said.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
