SEQUIM — Paving along one of Sequim’s busiest sections of roadway begins Wednesday evening.
Crews with Lakeside Industries will repave an approximate half-mile of North Sequim Avenue from the Sequim Avenue/Washington Street intersection to about 250 feet south of West Deytona Street.
Work will take three to four weeks, depending on weather, with crews working from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday through Friday, city officials said.
Residents can expect delays, localized closures, construction noise and detours during work hours, city officials said.
Resident access will be provided, city officials said, but they are encouraged to heed flaggers, cones, signage, and to be cognizant of large construction equipment and trucks and their backup alarms.
Along with Lakeside Industries, PR Systems and Stripe Rite will perform work on the project.
For more information, contact Sequim’s Department of Public Works at 360-683-5062.
The project has been a part of the city’s Capital Improvement Plan for many years, Project Engineer Katie Cole said.
“Staff determined this to be an opportune time to overlay the road and extend the pavement service life, avoiding the need for full reconstruction in the near future,” she said.
Lakeside Industries’ lone bid of $496,978 with a 10 percent contingency was $163,464 less than the city engineer’s estimate for the project, according to city documents.
It will be funded at 86.5 percent with Surface Transportation Block Grant funds and 13.5 percent from city funds.
City officials report they anticipate about 1,380 tons of hot mix asphalt to be used on the project.
Cole said under the pavement condition index (PCI), a national rating engineers use to estimate road condition based on various factors, the roadway from Washington Street to Fir Street has a PCI of 58 and Fir Street to the project limits has a PCI of 53.
“Grinding and overlaying should bring the PCI up to 100,” she said.
Sequim city council members approved contracts for the project and the nearby North Sequim Avenue Sidewalk and Bike Lanes project in the consent agenda at their Aug. 14 meeting.
Future project
Cole said construction on the North Sequim Avenue Sidewalk and Bike Lanes project will begin construction later this year.
Crews with Interwest Construction Inc. of Burlington will rehabilitate North Sequim Avenue from just south of Deytona Street to the Old Olympic Highway roundabout.
Some of its elements include widening and rehabilitating the roadway, retrofitting the roundabout, adding a concrete sidewalk on the west side, bike lanes, curb ramps, Rectangular Rapid Flash Beacons similar to one at the Fir Street intersection, fire hydrants and more.
The city received three bids, with Interwest Construction Inc, the low bidder at just more than $2,837,359, according to city documents.
It came in about 3.3 percent more than the city engineer’s estimate, and it will include a 10 percent construction contingency.
City staff report grants from the Safe Routes to School and Transportation Improvement Board contributed more than $2.17 million to the project for engineering and right-of-way acquisition.
The approximate remaining amount of $2.325 million will be covered by City Transportation Benefit District funds, Real Estate Excise Tax funds, Transportation Impact Fee funds and grants that become available as construction moves forward, according to city documents.
City staff report the community requested the sidewalk project in a series of 2018-19 neighborhood meetings as it will “provide safety and mobility improvements that benefit neighborhoods currently isolated from downtown, as well as provide a safe walking route to Sequim Schools for this area that is currently a blank leg on the Sequim Schools walk-route map.”
________
Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
