PORT TOWNSEND — A $6.5 million extension of Howard Street to Discovery Road, including a new stormwater treatment facility, could be completed as early as the end of this year, according to the Port Townsend city manager.
“We could get this done by the end of this year if everything falls into place,” David Timmons said Thursday.
A Howard Street roundabout is still on the table, Timmons said, but he is recommending that City Council members approve it instead of a standard intersection.
The council this week unanimously approved the first 60 percent of the design plan by BergerABAM of Seattle and authorized its completion.
The city must complete right-of-way purchases and acquire environmental permits before the council considers final approval and putting the project out to bid in April, according to information presented at the council meeting Tuesday.
Construction, estimated to take six to nine months, could begin in June, the council was told.
The project would connect the south end of Sims Way with Discovery Road via Howard Street.
That would lessen the traffic on Sims Way and provide a link to residential areas, city officials have said.
Howard Street currently dead-ends about 800 feet off Sims Way.
The extension would be built on about 600 feet of what is now trail and open land, taking a jog around existing homes.
Installing a roundabout instead of a “T” intersection would save money in the long run, Timmons said, because it would facilitate a future extension from Discovery Road to Hastings Avenue via Howard Street.
The installation of two roundabouts on Sims Way — at Howard Street and Thomas Street — were criticized during their 2010 opening, but Timmons expects a positive reaction to a new roundabout.
“People who hated them at first are now telling me they’d like us to put in more of them,” he said.
“They help move traffic more effectively and will be especially useful on Discovery Road, where there is no place you can turn around if you’ve missed a turn,” he said.
Plans are for the new road to not only expand traffic options but provide a location for business/industrial applications that include local manufacturing and retail.
Mt. Townsend Creamery at 338 Sherman St. has announced plans to build a new 16,000-square-foot structure, with completion plans for the first part of 2016.
Much of the land in the area is currently for sale and zoned for light industrial in an effort to attract new business.
The city is applying for a low-interest $1.1 million state Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) loan so it can build a stormwater treatment facility on the east side of the Sims Way roundabout at Howard Street that would serve the entire area.
“That soil doesn’t drain, so it’s a challenging piece of property to develop,” Timmons said.
“Property owners now need to use half of their land for stormwater treatment of the other half.
“By handling stormwater regionally, it will allow a greater density in the area.”
The state board approved preliminary plans for the treatment facility Wednesday. The city will present the final project in March.
Money saved through the regional stormwater facility would help pay for the road, as it would be more expensive to create stormwater solutions on individual properties, Timmons said.
He said Howard Street will not extend any farther on the south side of Sims Way since it abuts a bluff, but the city plans to build an extension from the road’s end to the Larry Scott Trail.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
