PORT TOWNSEND — The roundabout on the corner of Thomas Street and Sims Way is slated to open to unobstructed traffic in time for Memorial Day, but drivers may experience delays until then.
The project will be completed sooner than expected, city officials said.
“There will be a lot of one-lane traffic situations over the next week,” said City Engineer Dave Peterson.
“There will be many delays, but it will be open by the weekend.”
Construction on the roundabout, the second to be constructed this year, began April 19. It is part of a $7.1 million project that also will add landscaping, medians and sidewalks.
The Thomas Street roundabout was scheduled to open in mid-June, but the contractor “worked hard in order to finish sooner,” Peterson said.
During construction, traffic will alternate between single lanes or drivers will be encouraged to use detours.
When there is no construction under way, traffic from each direction will be able to travel through — but not completely around — the roundabout.
“They’ve done a good job keeping traffic moving,” Peterson said of Seton Construction, which built both the Taylor Street and the Howard Street roundabouts on Sims Way.
The Howard Street roundabout was finished in April.
Other work through June
Landscaping and the construction of traffic islands on the Taylor Street roundabout will continue during June, with final paving scheduled for later in the month.
As a final step, the surfaces will get another 4 inches of asphalt, which will bring the road to the same height as the bottom of the curb.
During the final paving, traffic again will be reduced to one lane, Peterson said.
Besides the roundabouts, landscaped medians are planned from Howard to Thomas streets.
New sidewalks on both sides of the street and pedestrian crossings will improve the area for those on foot, city officials said, while bike lanes will be added, along with connections to the trail networks, to the north and south.
Storm water will be treated and detained with ecology embankments and two storm-water detention and treatment ponds.
Lawsuit
No date has been set to hear a lawsuit against the city for the roundabout that was filed March 24 in Jefferson County Superior Court by Vintage Hardware co-owner Ken Kelly.
Kelly, who said the roundabout was illegally installed and is harming his business, is suing for unspecified damages.
“Since this began we haven’t had any vacation visitors, buses or campers stopping at the store,” he said. “It has drastically cut our income.
“It is a business killer,” he said.
The Kellys ask the court to set the amount of damages for an expected loss of business and devaluation of property once the roundabout is constructed.
Kelly is not impressed with the speed of the roundabout’s construction or its craftsmanship, calling it “shoddy.”
Contractors plan to spend much of June filling in cracks and applying finish work.
Any hearing on the suit will occur well after the roundabout is in operation.
This doesn’t cool Kelly’s ardor.
“Anything that is done can be undone,” he said.
Kelly said that construction will place a wall across the front of his business, blocking direct access from Thomas Street, and eliminate parking spaces while making it hard for impulse travelers to stop.
The roundabout will block the access to a portion of Fifth Street, which allowed large vehicles to pull up parallel to the curb in front of his store, Kelly said.
City Attorney John Watts said that Kelly developed this street on his own and did so on city property.
Watts said the city has acted properly during the construction and has not infringed on Kelly’s property.
“We are changing the use of a city-owned right of way, which we always had the right to do,” Watts sad.
“As this is city property, we have the right to relocate improvements.”
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
